Can reviving beach dunes help California with sea level rise?
Now, with the looming threat of sea level rise and a state desperate for solutions, conservationists and a growing movement of researchers say restoring these dunes could provide a much-needed buffer from the water. These overlooked features of the coast could help buy communities a bit more time — before the ocean pushes inland and reclaims the land. Most of these ideas remain untested in California. Pilot projects like the one in Malibu are starting with a concept so simple it seems radical: If these degraded ecosystems were just given the space to regrow, could they come back to life?