Publication Date February 4, 2016 | TakePart

El Niño and Climate Change Are Pushing California off a Cliff

United States
Apartments teetering on the edge of an eroding cliff in Pacifica, California, on Jan. 27. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Apartments teetering on the edge of an eroding cliff in Pacifica, California, on Jan. 27. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

So far, this year’s El Niño has ripped pylons from piers in Pacifica and Ventura and swamped low-lying roads from San Diego to Santa Cruz. In Los Angeles County, authorities have spent millions of dollars to shore up a vulnerable stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway that threatens to tumble into the sea. El Niño storms historically are at their most relentless in February, so the next few weeks will likely continue to test coastal infrastructure.