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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Gabrielle Canon in San Francisco

California rushes to prepare for massive ‘Kelvin’ wave and predicted sea level rise

Large waves crash over a seawall against Long Beach houses at dusk, palm trees behind
Homes in Long Beach, California, in a waning swell from Hurricane Marie, on 8 September. Photograph: Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Communities across California are rushing to prepare for the imminent arrival of the so-called “Kelvin wave”, a massive underwater band of warm water threatening to inundate swaths of the vast North American shoreline.

The wave is nearing southern California and expected to reach the San Francisco Bay Area by early October, as it crawls toward Alaska. Waters could rise by a foot along the California coast, according to scientists, who have warned that this could dramatically double the 8-12in rise in sea levels already caused by climate change over the last century.

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