Scientists find new way of studying coastal erosion by using old photos

It’s called Cliff Avenue for a reason–Arthur Alexander lives in an apartment complex in Capitola built right on the cliff.

“We moved here because of this. It’s beautiful. It’s where we wanted to live,” Alexander said.

Alexander said he has been watching the sun rise and set everyday for the past seven years, but he has also seen the not-so-pretty part of ocean-side living.

“In the big storms, there really only have been a few things and a few times. One year, parts of the cliff washed away here, parts of the cliff washed away on the end,” said Alexander, pointing to parts of the cliff that disappeared.

In recent years, coastal erosion has brought down a number of houses, threatening many seaside communities.

Today, scientists have a new way of studying coastal erosion by overlapping photos taken over the years.

“…and see how much material have been removed since the last photograph, or which areas have failed, sort of quantitatively, which is a really good way of figuring out which areas are changing rapidly, which areas aren’t changing at all,” said marine scientist Greg Griggs.

For more than a decade, Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of photos documenting coastline changes. They are now collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey scientists to calculate the impact of coastal erosion.

And this can also help those living near the water.

“If you are going to build, when is the light house going to fall in, when is your house going to fall in, when we gotta replace the streets. It’s a really useful way to use those photographs, sort of we’ve never thought about it before,” Griggs said.

Alexander said despite coastal erosion concerns, for his remaining years, he chooses to live on the edge.

“Every day, coming out here in the morning seeing the sun come up, every night seeing the sun go down, looking out over the ocean, that’s always different, that’s always special,” Alexander said.