East Bay Times: Sea level rise, flooding are focus of Berkeley event

A 2-meter sea-level rise would flood railroad tracks in Oakland and the Bay Bridge toll plaza, organizers say

This patch of wetlands is part of the Eastshore State Park that borders the San Francisco only on-ramp from Emeryville. (Laura Oda/The Oakland Tribune)

By TOM LOCHNER | tlochner@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

July 25, 2017 at 6:30 am

BERKELEY — The public is invited to make a statement dramatizing sea level rise at McLaughlin Eastshore State Park on July 29.

“Visualizing Sea-level Rise,” scheduled from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., will feature volunteers holding up blue banners along the 2-meter sea level rise mark to raise awareness and urge leaders to seek out “resilient shoreline solutions,” according to a press release from Albany-based Citizens for East Shore Parks. The organization projects a 2-meter rise in the sea level to occur by 2100.

The gathering place is University Avenue and Frontage Road in Berkeley; a map is available here. The event is on the same morning as the start of the two-day Berkeley Kite Festival in nearby Cesar Chavez Park.

The July 29 Berkeley sea level event will be the second of its kind; the first “Visualizing Sea-Level Rise” was at Jack London Square in Oakland on April 22.

Event sponsors include Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge; Groundworks Office; Oro Loma Sanitary District; and Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter.

A flood map by the Our Coast, Our Future project shows that a 2-meter sea-level rise — or 6 feet 7 inches — would flood sections of freeway and railroad tracks in Oakland as well as the Bay Bridge toll plaza, the organizers note. Also available online is a compilation of sea level rise data by the OCOF project team.

RSVPs can be made by email to cespmanager@eastshorepark.org.

Original article: http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/07/25/sea-level-rise-flooding-are-focus-of-berkeley-event/