Latest news with #AlexanderHandwerger
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Areas in California are sinking into the Pacific: Maps detail NASA study
Areas in the Golden State are sinking. That's bad news for coastal cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the study identifies specific areas of California where the ground is moving upward or downward. These motions, known as vertical land motion, are triggered by both natural and human causes, such as tectonic plate movements or groundwater pumping. The study's lead author, Marin Govorcin, a remote sensing scientist at JPL, says in a statement, 'In many parts of the world, like the reclaimed ground beneath San Francisco, the land is moving down faster than the sea itself is going up.' The Central Valley is experiencing the most severe land dropping in the state, with the earth sinking up to 8 inches annually as a result of groundwater extraction during the drought, according to the statement. With areas in the Bay Area near San Francisco dipping more than 0.4 inches per year. There are also several areas considered hotspots for coastal sinking. "By 2050, sea levels in California are expected to increase to between 6 and 14.5 inches (15 and 37 centimeters) higher than year 2000 levels," according to the statement. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. Heavy rainfall and erosion are most likely to blame for the slow-moving landslides that are pushing the Palos Verdes Peninsula toward the ocean. The study found that the region, long understood to be extremely landslide-prone, moved by 16 inches toward the ocean during four weeks last fall when researchers used radar during aerial flights to measure the movement. That's a rate of about 4 inches every week. "The speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk,' Alexander Handwerger, who performed the JPL analysis, said in a news release. Not all Californian coastal areas are moving lower. The Santa Barbara groundwater basin, which has been continuously replenishing since 2018, has rising areas of several millimeters per year, according to the researchers' mapping. Uplift was also seen in Long Beach, where fluid extraction and injection occur with oil and gas production. More: L.A. mudslides, landslides mapped and explained Parts of Hawaii, Chicago and New York City are among the other sites that are sinking as a result of shifting or settling earth and the weight of their skyscrapers. NASA's scientists continue to monitor coastal areas to better understand how local elevation changes can help communities adapt to rising sea levels. CONTRIBUTING: Jeanine Santucci. SOURCE NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Earth Observatory, California Geological Survey, Smithsonian Magazine and USA TODAY research This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California cities at risk of sinking into Pacific, NASA study shows
CBS News
06-02-2025
- Science
- CBS News
NASA mapping shows Palos Verdes landslide movement at 4 inches per week
Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used airborne radar to measure activity of the slow-moving Palos Verdes Peninsula landslide, which showed movement by as much as 4 inches per week. Data gathered from four weeks in the fall of 2024 showed the speed of the movement to be "more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk," Alexander Handwerger, JPL landslide scientist said. The information was provided to California officials to support the state's response to the landslides. In September 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes, as utilities were cut off, and homes evacuated due to drastic movement. The affected area on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is part of a decades-long, slow-moving landslide, and the deluge of rainfall from storms in 2023 and 2024 significantly accelerated land movement. Earlier this week, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes said the average movement for the entire landslide complex has decelerated by about 3% since December 2024. The city reported that "in general, it appears that the movement rates are reaching a steady state of significantly reduced movement ...," due to the dewatering wells, and dry conditions. A total of eleven dewatering wells have been installed since Sept. 2024, serving as underground drains to extract water that contributes to land movement. This week, the council approved eight to ten new deep dewatering wells. Through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's $42 million Voluntary Property Buyout Program, the city anticipates being able to offer buyouts for 23 damaged properties within the landslide areas. Of these buyouts, 15 are expected for red-tagged properties, and eight for yellow-tagged properties. The city council also extended by 60 days the local emergency declarations in the landslide area, prohibiting bicycles, motorcycles, and other similar wheeled vehicles along the approximate 2-mile stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South, from the site where Wayfarers Chapel was to Schooner Drive.
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Science
- USA Today
California crisis: A neighborhood is drifting into the ocean
California crisis: A neighborhood is drifting into the ocean Show Caption Hide Caption Largest ocean: Here's a deep dive on the world's five oceans The Earth's five ocean basins are home to thousands of marine life and millions of square miles of water. But which one is the largest? Destroyed homes and collapsed power lines have peppered a section section of Los Angeles County coastline that is rapidly merging with the ocean, prompting an emergency declaration, a buyout program for property owners and an alarming study from NASA. A new report from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sheds more light on the situation in the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a region along the Los Angeles County coast that juts into the Pacific Ocean and is home to the affluent Rancho Palos Verdes community. It sits about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The report found that the region, long understood to be an extremely landslide-prone part of the state, moved by 16 inches toward the ocean during a four-week period last fall, when researchers used radar during aerial flights to measure the movement. That's a rate of about 4 inches every week. Though slow-moving landslides have been a fact of the area for decades, the researchers determined the landslide-prone area has expanded. Record-breaking rainfall in September 2023 and heavy rain in early 2024 caused an acceleration. "(T)he speed is more than enough to put human life and infrastructure at risk,' Alexander Handwerger, who performed the JPL analysis, said in a news release. The land is moving about 80 times faster than it was in October 2022 and the active area of the landslide complex has expanded from just under 400 acres to 700 acres, according to the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. Still, there isn't believed to be a risk of a sudden catastrophic landslide event, the city said. Last year, the city said some of the landslide area had moved 10 inches in one week. How the creeping landslides forced people out of their homes The JPL radar flights were conducted from Sept. 18 to Oct. 17, which is shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes because of disrupted utility services, including electricity and gas. The region's electricity company told residents that recent land movement was creating unsafe conditions for residents. "The ground movement affecting your neighborhood has created unsafe and hazardous conditions, which have already impacted SCE's infrastructure, causing power poles to lean and power lines to fail," Southern California Edison said in July 2024. 'The impact on SCE's equipment caused by these hazardous conditions increases the risk of system failure, fire ignition, or other public safety hazards.' The next month, a collapsed power line sparked a small brush fire. More than 200 homes and businesses had power turned off by early September with the hopes of restoring power as soon as possible. Southern California Edison said last month that it would be working to restore power in parts of Rolling Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes, both part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Later in the fall, residents in the Greater Portuguese Bend neighborhood heavily impacted by the landslides were offered a voluntary buyout to the tune of $42 million by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, according to the City News Service. Rancho Palos Verdes expects 23 properties to be part of the buyout, the city said this week. Contributing: Anthony Robledo and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY; Paris Barraza, the Palm Springs Desert Sun
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Southern California community is sliding toward the ocean, NASA data shows: ‘Human life and infrastructure at risk'
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – New research from NASA shows that California's Palos Verdes Peninsula, an area in Los Angeles County which is home to cities like Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates and San Pedro, is shifting toward the ocean. Data from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory airborne radar shows that the residential area shifted toward the Pacific Ocean as much as 4 inches — per week — during a four-week period last fall. The above image from NASA shows just how fast parts of the landslide complex were moving last September and October, with the darkest reds indicating the highest speeds. The white arrows represent the direction of horizontal motion. Can a house that hides 'underground' survive wildfires? '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,' Alexander Handwerger, the JPL landslide scientist who performed the analysis, said in a statement. The Palos Verdes Peninsula has experienced accelerated land movement thanks to Hurricane Hilary's record-breaking rainfall totals in 2023. Due to the movement, the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes closed indefinitely last year. Church leadership also announced plans to disassemble the iconic California landmark. Multiple roadways, homes and infrastructure were also damaged due to the continuous land movement. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the area due to the ongoing land movement last year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
06-02-2025
- Science
- USA Today
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.
