Coastal regions around the world have become increasingly crowded, intensively developed, and severely exploited. Hundreds of millions of people living in these low-lying areas are subject to short-term coastal hazards such as cyclones, hurricanes, and destruction due to El Niño, and are also exposed to the long-term threat of global sea-level rise. Griggs provides an overview of the individual hazards, risks, and issues threatening the coastal zone. Dr. Gary Griggs is Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is author of Introduction to California’s Beaches and Coast, Living with the Changing California Coast, California Coast from the Air, The Santa Cruz Coast (Then and Now), and Our Ocean Backyard and Coasts in Crisis: A Global Challenge. Air Date: January 15, 2017 on KSCO radio station AM1080