Waves On The Oregon Coast Keep Getting Bigger
Scientists worried about flooding, erosion and increasing damage to homes and business along the coast.
Waves pound a beach and structure between Depot Bay and Boiler Bay on the Oregon Coast. Photo by Erica Harris, Oregon State University
No one really knows why, but those waves that pound against the Oregon coast are getting bigger and bigger.
According to new research from Oregon State University, maximum wave heights are reaching 46 feet. That’s 13 feet taller than they were just 14 years ago. In one of those so called “100-year events”, waves are now expected to hit up to 55 feet high.
All this concerns scientists who have to rethink how this will affect the coast and the people who live along it.
“The rates of erosion and frequency of coastal flooding have increased over the last couple of decades and will almost certainly increase in the future,” says Peter Ruggiero, an assistant professor in the OSU Department of Geosciences. “The Pacific Northwest has one of the strongest wave climates in the world, and the data clearly show that it’s getting even bigger.”
Bigger waves mean more flooding, more coastal erosion and more damages to buildings along the coast. As sand shifts from one area to another, some communities will lose beachfront property while others might actually see their shorelines become more stable.
Waves crawl up against the lower level of a structure in Neskowin, Oregon, during a storm in January, 2008. Photo by Armand Thibault, Neskowin.
Ruggiero says predicting who’ll benefit and who’ll lose out is difficult. But he points to Neskowin as a town that’s already feeling negative effects. The lower levels on some buildings in town can be flooded during storms.
“Going to the future, communities are going to have to plan for heavier wave impacts and erosion, and decide what amounts of risk they are willing to take, how coastal growth should be managed and what criteria to use for structures,” says Ruggiero.
The long term trend isn’t looking any better. The study says rising sea levels from climate changes will only exaggerate the impact of big waves.
What’s Causing This?
The researchers aren’t really sure why this is happening, but believe climate change is a likely cause. The Pacific Northwest coast is seeing more intense winter storms, with faster winds and changes in typical storm tracks.
Ruggiero says all this could be the result of a warming planet. But these changes are also associated with something called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. This is a warm weather/cold weather cycle that can last a couple of decades. It’s similar to the El Nino/La Nino events, but takes place more gradually over a longer period of time.
Ruggiero says their wave records don’t go back far enough for the scientists to be able to point point a cause. “But,” he says, “what is clear is the waves are getting larger.”
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