Metrolink train service between Laguna Niguel and Oceanside is suspended indefinitely due to a landslide in San Clemente that sent boulders and debris tumbling onto the tracks.
Patrick Barnard, a research geologist with the USGS, told KNX News' Margaret Carrero, "We got a number of factors that are just coming together to make this area extremely vulnerable and hazardous. And it is highly likely that these kinds of issues are going to get worse in the future."
According to Barnard, rates of erosion will continue to accelerate as the sea level rises, and the intense rainfall we've seen in recent years isn't helping things either, so it appears this is going to be a chronic issue.
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When it comes to the sea level putting pressure on coastal infrastructure, Barnard says it's going to increase in magnitude and severity.
"So there's going to be a lot of hard decisions. Are we going to defend this infrastructure? In some cases, I'm sure that we will. In other cases, there may be a viable alternative to move out of the way. These are all case-by-case situations that have to be weighed," he said.
Barnard says we can't necessarily engineer our way out of every problem, so it's going to come down to critical decision-making to come up with the best course of action.
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