Climate change may soon have more devastating effects on our health, safety, and economy, according to a dire warning from Congress’ latest report released Friday.
The report was just another sobering look at the drastic effects of climate change, Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said.
His city has been working diligently to try and stay one step ahead of a natural disaster, such as the Bayfront, where water levels there can get dangerously high.
“We've seen the actually bay shore bikeway flood during king tides, or really high tides, something that we never use to see that has really started to happen more recently," Dedina said.
In addition to being the mayor of the seaside town, he is also the executive director at Wildcoast, a non-profit organization specializing in coastal conservation.
Dedina said flood concerns in Imperial Beach are strongly tied to climate change.
“We found that we could have about 30 percent of town impacts by coastal flooding," he said.
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That is why the city has focused its efforts on off-setting some of climate change’s effects, such as wetlands restoration.
The South San Diego Bay Wetland Restoration Project has restored more than 250 acres of coastal wetlands in the southwest corner of San Diego Bay, including Imperial Beach.
“This is really big wetland restoration project for the Fish and Wildlife Service,” Dedina said. “So things like this help but we have a lot more to do."
The trickle-down effect of climate change can be seen across the state with the recent wildfires and warmer summers, he said. The way to combat climate change is to off-set some of the damage humans have done to the environment, Dedina said.
“Climate change is here it's happening it's up to us to figure out to deal with it and the more effective way is to work with nature not against it," he said.
Click here, to read the entire climate change report.
