NASA warns of accelerating landslides threatening hundreds of buildings on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles, California. The region has been slowly moving towards the ocean for decades but new data suggests the rate of movement has increased.
Radar data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows that residential land is now moving at a rate of 10 centimeters per week towards the Pacific Ocean. This increase followed record-breaking rainfall in 2023 and heavy downpours in early 2024. The European Space Agency’s Copernicus satellite also detected this movement.
Experts attribute the increased landslides to human-caused climate change, which is exacerbating extreme rain events and droughts. As temperatures rise, the atmosphere can hold more water, leading to rapid changes in weather patterns known as hydroclimate whiplash.
Research suggests that landslides move faster during rainy seasons than dry seasons, regardless of soil moisture levels. NASA plans to continue studying these risks to inform monitoring networks that provide alerts to state officials and communities. The goal is to better understand the interactions between land movement and climate change to mitigate potential threats.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/la-coast-community-accelerates-towards-052627747.html