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California’s Shifting Ground: NASA Unveils the Growing Landslide Crisis

*Aggressive displacement, leading to buckling roads, cracked homes, and disrupted utilities caused by the continuous landslides at Palos Verdes Peninsula. Source: CNN*

The Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California has long been home to slow-moving landslides. For decades, the region's landscape has inched toward the Pacific, reshaping communities and infrastructure. However, recent NASA radar imagery has confirmed an alarming trend—land movement has accelerated dramatically. In some areas, the ground is shifting up to 4 inches per week, with landslides nearly doubling in size since they were last mapped in 2007.

The cause? A series of record-breaking storms in 2023 and another wet winter in early 2024. With increasing rainfall saturating the slopes, the once-predictable movement of land has turned into a more aggressive displacement, leading to buckling roads, cracked homes, and disrupted utilities.

The Science Behind the Shifts

NASA’s UAVSAR (Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar) flights, conducted in fall 2024, provided a three-dimensional view of the shifting land. Researchers used high-resolution radar imaging to track the movement’s velocity and direction, revealing that some sections of the land are moving southward at unprecedented rates.

The Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, which reactivated in 1956 after road construction weakened the slope, is now moving faster than ever before. The emergency response team has pumped out 145 million gallons of groundwater to slow the slide, but city officials warn that continued movement could cause tens of millions of dollars in additional damages.

What’s Next? Engineering Solutions or an Inevitable Retreat?

Despite mitigation efforts, stabilizing the landscape remains a challenge. Rancho Palos Verdes has spent over $35 million on landslide prevention, including groundwater extraction and structural reinforcements. Yet, geologists caution that with climate change intensifying rainfall extremes, slow-moving landslides like these may become more frequent and harder to control.

Fortunately, catastrophic collapse remains unlikely, according to landslide experts. The region's movement is expected to remain gradual, rather than sudden and disastrous. However, with roads crumbling and homes becoming uninhabitable, the future of the affected communities remains uncertain.

Sources: nasa.gov, edition.cnn.com