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A few times every year, a network of volunteer photographers try to capture so-called "king tides", which affect several coastal communities around the world.
2020-02-11
The group's aim is to document how high the waterline gets and where the water goes so that the images can be used by scientists, city planners, and policymakers to study and prepare for the effects of climate change.
The photos reveal where flooding can occur on specific roads as well as where it is safe to build new housing.
The flooding which is caused by high tides is always a good marker for how the sea level rise will affect coastal communities.
Residents watch as an extreme high tide rolls in and floods parts of the harbor in Depoe Bay, Oregon.Associated Press
If paired with bad weather, the king tides can create major waves and stormy conditions. Earlier this year, 15-to-20-foot waves in Oregon sucked a man and two young children into the sea.
A woman who was taking pictures of the tides from her house called 911, but the children, aged 4 and 7, both died.
To monitor the flooding, a group of volunteer photographers and scientists teamed up to launch the King Tide Project.
Onlookers use smartphones to film waves crashing ashore at Rodea Point in Lincoln County, Oregon.Associated Press
The first King Tide Project launched in 2009 in Australia but it has since spread to New Zealand, Mauritius, coastal states in the US and British Columbia.
The idea behind the project is to collect as many pictures of king tides around the world as possible so that scientists, policymakers, and even city planners can study and prepare for the effects of climate change.
In this Jan. 11, 2020 photo an extreme high tide rolls in and floods parts of the harbor in Depoe Bay, Oregon.Associated Press
"A lot of the conversation around climate change was what was happening far away and not about what people were going to be experiencing in their own lives," one of the founders of the project, Marina Psaros told AP.
"The goal of the project was to get people thinking more about climate change locally instead of just polar bears."
In Auckland, New Zealand one year, images sent in by people of flooded parks and freeway underpasses, were used by local government to develop a new plan to reinforce a popular, but rapidly eroding beach.
In this Jan. 11, 2020 photo an extreme high tide rolls in and floods parts of the harbor in Depoe Bay, Oregon.Associated Press
"There's no eureka moment where it all comes into play, but it's an evolving database of information that's there when needed," founder of the New Zealand King Tide Project, Ben Sheeran said.
This year, scientists, volunteers, and observers documented the winter's final high tide, which occurred off the U.S West Coast on February 8, 9, and 10. They are also preparing to capture more pictures in New Zealand on February 12.
Heavy surf surrounds the legs of a bridge as an extreme high tide rolls into the harbor in Depoe Bay, Oregon.Associated Press
"Seeing [so much water] over such a large area, it really opened my eyes," Olson said. "This is impactful," one volunteer said.
