Join us for a riveting exploration of sea level rise along the West Coast through human stories and ecological dramas.
"Viscerally urgent, thoroughly reported, and compellingly written--a must-read for our uncertain times." --Ed Yong, author of An Immense World
Along California's 1,200-mile coastline, the overheated Pacific Ocean is rising and pressing in, imperiling both wildlife and the maritime towns and cities that 27 million people call home. In California Against the Sea, Los Angeles Times coastal reporter Rosanna Xia asks: As climate chaos threatens the places we love so fiercely, will we finally grasp our collective capacity for change?
Xia, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, investigates the impacts of engineered landscapes, the market pressures of development, and the ecological activism and political scrimmages that have carved our contemporary coastline--and foretell even greater changes to our shores. From the beaches of the Mexican border up to the sheer-cliffed North Coast, the voices of Indigenous leaders, community activists, small-town mayors, urban engineers, and tenacious environmental scientists commingle. Together, they chronicle the challenges and urgency of forging a climate-wise future. Xia's investigation takes us to Imperial Beach, Los Angeles, Pacifica, Marin City, San Francisco, and beyond, weighing the rivaling arguments, agreements, compromises, and visions governing the State of California's commitment to a coast for all. Through graceful reportage, she charts how the decisions we make today will determine where we go tomorrow: headlong into natural disaster, or toward an equitable refashioning of coastal stewardship.
Rosanna Xia is an environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she specializes in stories about the coast and ocean. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020 for explanatory reporting, and her work has been anthologized in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series.
Steve Lopez has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001 and is a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary. He is the author of three novels, two collections of columns, and the New York Times bestseller and winner of the PEN USA Literary Award for Nonfiction, The Soloist. Additionally, Lopez's television reporting for public station KCET has won three local news Emmys and a share of the Columbia University DuPont Award. His latest book, Independence Day, uses his reporter skills not only to look inward but also to interview experts and peers to collect a variety of perspectives, as he examines the true nature of a person's time, identity, and ultimate life satisfaction.
