A new virtual reality experience on the Santa Monica Pier shows people what a century of climate change is likely to do to the coastline along Santa Monica Beach.
A pair of binocular viewfinders unveiled Wednesday give a 360 degree view of the iconic beach and show what it’s predicted to look like as sea levels rise by six feet and storms flood the area.
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A VR image depicting a storm surge after sea levels rise by six feet. This could happen by the end of the century as the effects of climate change take hold.USC SEA GRANT
The project — managed by the US Geological Survey, USC and the City of Santa Monica — hopes to make the seemingly far-off effects of global warming feel more immediate.
“This is a unique way of being able to see what our true vulnerabilities will be looking into the future,” explained Juliette Finzi Hart with USGS.
Visitors to the instillation look through the viewfinders and first see the beach as it is today. Subsequent images show how the beach is expected to change as the effects of man-made climate change take hold.
By some estimates, sea levels off the California coast could rise by six feet over the next century, Finzi Hart said.
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Source: SCPR