King Tides are here:

Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17

This weekend you can help the California King Tides Project photograph the highest predicted tides of the year. It's easy to participate:

1. Choose where along the Coast, Bay, or Delta you'd like to go.
2. Visit within a half hour of high tide time this Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
3. Choose a spot where you can take a photo showing the height of the water in relation to a landmark such as a cliff, bridge, sea wall, or pier. You can also photograph high tide flooding on roads or in wetlands.
4. Be Safe. Don't turn your back on the ocean, and don't drive through flooded roads. Watch out for shorebirds that may be further upland than usual.
5. Make sure you have Location Services turned on for your camera app, or take careful note of where you're standing.
6. Upload your photos using our online form.

You can photograph King Tides on your own, or you can join one of the community events being held at Arcata Marsh, Navarro Beach, Napa River, San Rafael, Ravenswood Preserve, Palo Alto Baylands, Elkhorn Slough, Morro Bay, Avila Beach, South Carlsbad Beach, Rose Creek Salt Marsh, or Tijuana Estuary.

Your photos help us understand what's vulnerable to flooding today, plan for future sea level rise, and get us all talking and thinking about the impacts of the climate crisis and what we can do to make a difference.

You can explore past King Tides photos and learn more about the Project on the California King Tides Project website.

After this weekend, the next King Tides dates are next month, December 13-15.

What causes sea level rise, and what do King Tides have to do with it?

The sea level rise we're experiencing now and will experience in the future is caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts like a blanket, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape. When we burn fossil fuels, we're adding more carbon dioxide, "thickening the blanket" and heating the earth, air, and ocean. Sea level is rising because land-based glaciers and ice sheets are melting into the ocean, and because water takes up more space when it warms. The amount of sea level rise we will ultimately experience depends on how quickly we stop burning fossil fuels.

King Tides themselves are not caused by sea level rise, but allow us to experience what higher sea level will be like. King Tides are the predicted highest tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, about a foot or two higher than average high tides, which previews the sea level expected within the next few decades. When you observe the King Tides, picture the water level that high and higher every day. Documenting what King Tides look like today will help us responsibly plan for sea level rise in the future.