Oh, Snap! ‘Tis the Season of King Tides

King tides are due back in the Bay Area this coming weekend, from November 15 to 17. Along with giving readers a heads-up to check their boats’ lines, we wanted to mention the California King Tides Project. The California King Tides Project is operated by the California Coastal Commission and aims to visualize future sea levels by observing the highest tides of today. We can all help by taking and sharing photos of the shoreline during king tides to create a record of changes to our coast and estuaries.

Our photos help the project team. In response, community groups up and down the coast are hosting events to observe and document the tide movements in their areas. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will see many of these groups outside across Monterey, Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Marin, and Santa Clara counties.

The events include a range of activities such as educational talks, walks, taking measurements and photos to document high water levels, and more. Each respective hosting organization is responsible for its posted event. You can see the listed events and contact details here.

If you want to take part, but don’t want to or can’t join an event, you can still help. Mark the dates on your calendar and decide where and when you’ll take your #KingTides photographs. You can find local king tide times and browse king tide photos on the California King Tides Project website. If you represent a community group or local government entity that would like to host an event for king tides, you can get in touch with [email protected].

“Your photos help us understand what’s vulnerable to flooding today, plan for future sea level rise, and get us all talking and thinking about the impacts of the climate crisis and what we can do to make a difference.”

What causes sea level rise, and what do king tides have to do with it?

“The sea level rise we’re experiencing now and will experience in the future is caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts like a blanket, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape. When we burn fossil fuels, we’re adding more carbon dioxide, ‘thickening the blanket’ and heating the Earth, air, and ocean. Sea level is rising because land-based glaciers and ice sheets are melting into the ocean, and because water takes up more space when it warms. The amount of sea level rise we will ultimately experience depends on how quickly we stop burning fossil fuels.

“King tides themselves are not caused by sea level rise, but allow us to experience what higher sea level will be like. King tides are the predicted highest tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, about a foot or two higher than average high tides, which [preview] the sea level expected within the next few decades. When you observe the king tides, picture the water level that high and higher every day. Documenting what king tides look like today will help us responsibly plan for sea level rise in the future.”

King tides aren’t new, but our ability to help understand them and plan for our future is a relatively new option available to us all.

Learn more here.