Oct. 23, 2026 6 AM PT <\/p>\n
To the editor: Steve Lopez\u2019s recent column quotes someone who says something the environmental zealots don\u2019t like to hear: \u201cThat\u2019s the heart of the issue \u2014 we\u2019re fundamentally trying to impose permanence onto a space that is meant to be constantly changing\u201d (\u201cIt\u2019s been a great romance, but it\u2019s time to rethink our relationship with the California coast,\u201d<\/a> Oct. 17). Why don\u2019t they like it? Because the exact same thing is happening to the climate.<\/p>\n Trying to \u201cimpose permanence\u201d on the climate is a fool\u2019s errand in the same way that trying to keep the coast the same is \u2014 only magnitudes harder. Climates are always changing and always have. If you study earth science (geology) as I have, you learn that when the climate changes, you must adapt, move or perish.<\/p>\n Humans will have to adapt to the warming climate; forcing people to get rid of their gas stoves, among other things, is not helping. Spend money on adaptation \u2014 and please stop telling me to buy a Tesla.<\/p>\n Chris Richgels, Scottsdale, Ariz.<\/p>\n ..<\/p>\n To the editor: In the 1978 movie \u201cSuperman,\u201d Lex Luthor (a great Gene Hackman performance), hoping to turn his undesirable desert real estate into beachfront property, tries to explode a bomb on the San Andreas fault line so that California falls into the sea. If he was patient enough, he could have waited for climate change to do just that.<\/p>\n Dennis E. Ibon, San Fernando<\/p>\n ..<\/p>\n To the editor: The Los Angeles Times reports that \u201cSouthern California is on track to lose 30% to 70% of its beaches over the next several decades\u201d (\u201cMajor loss of California beaches predicted in latest climate forecast,\u201d<\/a> Oct. 30). In the 1960s, the Beach Boys rode gentler Southern California waves to international fame.<\/p>\n After the heyday of that fame, were they prophetic? In 1971, they released the album \u201cSurf\u2019s Up,\u201d a title very relevant for us today. The song \u201cDon\u2019t Go Near the Water,\u201d about ocean pollution, speaks even more acutely now:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t go near the water \u201cSurf\u2019s up\u201d back then meant good waves for surfing. Now it appears to be saying \u201cTime\u2019s almost up.\u201d<\/p>\n Tim Vivian, Bakersfield<\/p>\n ..<\/p>\n To the editor: Climate change is real. The Times reports almost daily on how this phenomenon affects Californians in real time.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s sad
What\u2019s happened to the water?
Our water\u2019s going bad<\/p>\n