LA coastal area prone to landslides quickly inches into ocean every week, NASA finds
LA coastal area prone to landslides quickly inches into ocean every week, NASA finds
A Southern California coastal area long prone to landslides continues to inch toward the ocean at a rising speed posing danger to human life and infrastructure, a new NASA report shows.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula, a Los Angeles County area that juts into the Pacific Ocean, shifted around 16 inches toward the ocean during last fall, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Portions of the peninsula are part of an "ancient complex" that have been susceptible to landslides for more than 60 decades.
Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 17, NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) captured the area shifting toward the ocean up to 4 inches a week. The area is expanding, largely thanks to the significant heavy rainfall brought by Hurricane Hilary in August 2023 and additional rainfall in early 2024.
The motion is also accelerating and impacting hundreds of buildings in local communities, according to the analysis conducted by JPL landslide scientist Alexander Handwerger.
"In effect, we're seeing that the footprint of land experiencing significant impacts has expanded, and the speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk," Handwerger said in the NASA report.
NASA radar shows shift peninsula shift toward water
The lab shared an image created using the UAVSAR and illustrating the landslide direction gearing south into the Pacific Ocean within the four-week period.
The UAVSAR radar was used to estimate the landslide's speed and direction across three dimensions. The team planted the instrument onto a jet flown four times out of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Kern County, California.
The image uses colors to indicate the landslide speed and direction, with dark red representing the highest velocity per week and light yellow representing the lowest.
It also includes arrows showcasting the direction of horizontal motion as well as white solid lines representing the boundaries of the active landslide area defined by the California Geological Survey in 2007. NASA's Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis also used data by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1A/B satellites.
The NASA lab has provided the data with California officials addressing landslides as well as the general public online at NASA's Disaster Mapping Portal.
What is the Palos Verdes Peninsula?
The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a coastal area in Los Angeles County known for popular surfing spots and stunning ocean views in Southern California.
The area consists of four cities, including Palos Verdes Estates, Randho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Digital Trends
an hour ago
- Digital Trends
NASA astronaut's first ISS time-lapse is a real stunner
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim has shared his first-ever time-lapse from aboard the International Space Station (ISS) — and it's a real stunner. The dramatic 68-second clip shows a changing view of Earth as the space-based facility orbits our planet at an altitude of about 250 miles. Recommended Videos 'My first time-lapse,' Kim wrote in a social media post that included the video (below). Kim said he managed to nail it thanks to some time-lapse tips shared by fellow astronaut Nichole Ayers. 'After seeing the result, I told her this felt like fishing,' Kim wrote. 'Prepping the camera, the angle, the settings, the mount, then setting your timer and coming back to hope you got a catch. And after catching my first fish, I think I'm hooked.' My first time-lapse. Thanks to some instruction and tips from @Astro_Ayers, I caught my first aurora. After seeing the result, I told her this felt like fishing. Prepping the camera, the angle, the settings, the mount, then setting your timer and coming back to hope you got a… — Jonny Kim (@JonnyKimUSA) June 6, 2025 The video shows the space station flying into the night, with city lights in Asia and Australia visible far below, and bright stars shining in the far distance. A short while later, a gorgeous aurora appears over the horizon before filling much of the frame. Toward the end of the clip, one of the station's solar arrays also come into view. Auroras are natural light displays in Earth's sky, caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. While also viewable from parts of Earth, astronauts on the ISS can also enjoy a unique view of this natural wonder. Indeed, for most astronauts, witnessing auroras is one of the highlights of their time in orbit. Earlier this year, another NASA astronaut, Don Pettit, shared a dramatic view of an aurora, captured as the ISS flew directly over it. Kim arrived at the space station with two Russian cosmonauts after launching aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in April this year. With another four months of his mission left to run, hopefully the American will have time to create more clips similar to his first outstanding effort.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
NASA raises the odds that an asteroid could hit the moon in 2032
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Asteroid 2024 YR4, once considered the highest impact risk to Earth ever recorded, is back in the spotlight — this time due to a slight increase in the chance that it could impact the moon in 2032. Although now too distant to observe from Earth, the asteroid briefly came into view in May for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Using data from the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera, a team led by Andy Rivkin of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory refined predictions of where 2024 YR4 will be on Dec. 22, 2032 by nearly 20%. That revised trajectory nudged the odds of a lunar impact from 3.8% to 4.3%, according to a NASA update. "As data comes in, it is normal for the impact probability to evolve," the statement read. Even if a collision occurs, "it would not alter the moon's orbit." Astronomer Pawan Kumar, a former researcher at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru, agrees the moon is safe, noting a collision with the moon "won't be a cause for concern" because any moon debris blasted into space from the impact "blow up in Earth's atmosphere if any of it makes it to near-Earth space." First detected on Dec. 27 last year, 2024 YR4 is estimated to be about 174 to 220 feet long (53 to 67 meters), or about the size of a 10-story building. The asteroid quickly grabbed headlines for having more than a 1% chance of striking Earth, the highest recorded for any large asteroid. Follow-up observations in January and February saw the impact risk climb from 1.2% to a peak of 3.1%. The asteroid's projected trajectory at the time suggested it could cause blast damage across a wide potential impact zone, spanning the eastern Pacific, northern South America, Africa and southern Asia. If it enters Earth's atmosphere over the ocean, NASA estimated it would be unlikely to trigger significant tsunamis, but an airburst over a populated city could shatter windows and cause minor structural damage. However, the impact risk dropped sharply as additional orbital data came in. By Feb. 19, the probability had fallen to 1.5%, and then to 0.3% the next day. On Feb. 24, NASA announced an official "all clear" on social media, reporting the impact probability had dropped to just 0.004% and that the asteroid is "expected to safely pass by Earth in 2032." Further analysis has since allowed scientists to rule out any risk to Earth, not only in 2032 but from all future close approaches as well. Data from telescopes in Chile and Hawaii recently suggested the space rock originated in the central main belt between Mars and Jupiter and gradually shifted into a near-Earth orbit. Since mid-April, the asteroid has been too far away and too faint to be seen from Earth. It will swing back into view in 2028, giving scientists another chance to observe the asteroid and further refine its orbit using both JWST and ground-based telescopes. In particular, scientists will aim to gather more data on its shape and composition, which are key factors in understanding both its behavior and potential impact effects. RELATED STORIES — Odds of an asteroid impact in 2032 just went up. Here's why experts say you shouldn't worry — Asteroid apocalypse: How big must a space rock be to end human civilization? — Astronomers discover 196-foot asteroid with 1-in-83 chance of hitting Earth in 2032 While 2024 YR4 no longer poses any danger, it provided scientists with a rare, real-world opportunity to rehearse the full scope of planetary defense strategy, ranging from initial detection and risk analysis to public messaging. It was "an actual end-to-end exercise" for how we might respond to a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future, said Kumar. "2024 YR4 is a tailor-made asteroid for planetary defense efforts," he said. "It has everything it takes to get our attention."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
12-mile-tall volcano on Mars punches through clouds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bit after sunrise on June 6, 2025, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter saw one of Mars' biggest volcanoes, Arsia Mons, as it broke through the clouds. The volcano is the cloudiest of the Tharsis volcanoes, a trio that is tightly aligned on Mars' surface. Standing at over 12 miles (20 kilometers) with a diameter of 270 miles (450km), Arsia Mons is nearly twice as high as Mauna Loa, Earth's largest volcano, which sits at 6 miles (9 kilometers) from the seafloor. Due to its height, Arsia Mons is often covered by clouds that form when expanded air that was blown up the sides of the volcano rapidly cools. These clouds can be especially thick during aphelion, a period where Mars is farthest from the sun in its orbit. Clouds that form during this time at the planet's equator are known as the aphelion cloud belt, according to NASA. Arsia Mons is the southernmost volcano in a trio called the Tharsis Montes, or the Tharsis mountains, which are located in Mars' western hemisphere near its equator. The alignment of the Tharsis volcanoes suggests that a large fracture may have been responsible for the eruptions that formed all three volcanoes, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). To the northwest of the group stands Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano in the solar system, at 16 miles (25 kilometers) high. Because of its cloud cover, Arsia Mons has been hard to photograph. This new image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter gives a first-of-its kind view at the peak of the volcano. The picture is also the first time any of the three Tharsis volcanoes has been captured on the horizon, offering a similar perspective as what astronauts see from the International Space Station when they view Earth, according to NASA. Unlike other regions of the planet, the clouds that surround this volcano are made of water ice, which remains in Mars' atmosphere most of the year. In fact, the Martian atmosphere contains more water vapor than the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere, according to JPL. Other areas of Mars contain dust storms made of carbon dioxide clouds. Studying these cloud formations helps experts to better understand how storms form and occur on the Red Planet. You can read more about Martian volcanoes and cloud storms as scientists dive further into the features of our planetary neighbor.
