Xia’s deep reporting brings a nuanced understanding to the battle against the rising Pacific. “California Against the Sea: Visions For Our Vanishing Coastline” ($22 in paperback from Heyday) focuses on at-risk communities, mostly in the lower half of the state. “Imperial Beach,” she writes, “stands to lose one-third of the town to sea level rise, but few residents have processed this slow-moving disaster that is already sweeping over their shore.”
The work is the Book In Common for both Butte College and Chico State (www.csuchico.edu/bic) for the 2025-2026 academic year. (Xia is scheduled to speak at Chico State on April 2, 2026.)
“Much of California’s coastal development coincided with the calmest period of an ocean-atmosphere cycle known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation…. This ‘sea level rise suppression,’ as scientists call it, kept huge storms in check and the rate of sea rise below the global average…. In the last 100 years, the sea rose less than 9 inches in California; by the end of this century, the surge could be greater than 6, possibly 7 feet.”
Part of Xia’s story involves the effect of the California Coastal Act of 1976 which established the California Coastal Commission, “one of the most powerful land use agencies in America.” There is constant political tension between preserving the beaches and expansion of development.
Communities have tried to hold back sea rise with seawalls, which are now crumbling in many places; dredging for sand; and “managed retreat”—“move back, relocate, essentially cede the land to nature.” But “many declared retreat un-American.”
Yet, Xia writes, “when we don’t understand and don’t allow for the ocean’s ways, we end up with homes perched on the crumbling cliffs of Pacifica and the seawalls still making a stand in Laguna.” It’s compelling reading showing that things are--not so pacific after all.
