A Super El Niño Is Coming for Santa Monica Pier

In 1983, a winter of El Niño storms tore 400 feet off the end of the Santa Monica Pier, and the thing that finally broke it wasn't a wave. This September, NOAA put the odds at 75% that the coming El Niño will be the strongest in its record. In this video: – the pier that was built in 1909 to carry a sewer pipe – the 1973 fight that saved it from being replaced by a hotel island – the night of March 1, 1983, and the crane that became a battering ram – why El Niño raises the sea itself along the California coast – the beach in front of the pier isn't natural – Hurricane Marie, the cancelled festival and the state of emergency – who pays when the water comes, and who doesn't Should California keep paying to hold the beach in front of places like this, or is it time to let the coast go where the water wants it? Tell me in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 1:43 The pier and the Pacific 2:08 Ch. 1 · The pier that wouldn't die 4:46 Ch. 2 · Winter, 1983 8:59 Ch. 3 · The water they ride on 12:03 Ch. 4 · A pier built for the next one 13:54 Ch. 5 · September 2026 16:53 Ch. 6 · Who pays for the sand 18:23 Ch. 7 · Everybody is right SOURCES NOAA Climate Prediction Center, ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, 10 Sept 2026 · Governor of California, State of Emergency proclamation, 21 Sept 2026 · City of Santa Monica press releases, 11 & 17 Sept 2026 · UPI archives, 27 Jan and 3 Mar 1983 · National Research Council (1984), California Coastal Erosion and Storm Damage During the Winter of 1982-83 · California Coastal Commission, El Niño page · NOAA Tides & Currents, station 9414290 · Orme et al. (2011), Shore & Beach 79(4) · Flick (2013), City of LA vulnerability study · USGS (2017), Barnard et al., Nature Communications · FEMA Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide v5 · 44 CFR Part 61 App. A(1) · California Department of Insurance fact sheet (2025) · Santa Monica Daily Press · LA Times (Sept 2026) · NHC advisories, Hurricane Marie (EP13 2026) (full liste med lenker: research.md) FOOTAGE & CREDITS Archive news footage used under fair use for commentary: KTLA 5 (1983), KNBC NEWS4 (1983), CBS Channel 2 (1983), City of Santa Monica CityTV "Pier Stories" (2014) · Public domain: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, NOAA, USGS, National Archives, Library of Congress (Carol M. Highsmith) · Pexels / Pixabay (free licence) · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY, credited on screen): Ken Dare / Los Angeles Times, UCLA Library (CC BY 4.0) · Mike McBey (CC BY 2.0) · Sharon Mollerus (CC BY 2.0) · The Dronalist (CC BY 3.0) · "Ocean waves crushing" by Luftrum (CC BY 3.0) · Additional archive: KTLA 5 (2026), CBS News Los Angeles (2026), Santa Monica Closeup / Fabian Lewkowicz (2026) under fair use · Map imagery: NASA GIBS, Copernicus Sentinel-2, USDA NAIP, NOAA, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hashtags (limes inn nederst i beskrivelsen; de 3 første vises over tittelen) #SuperElNino #SantaMonica #ElNino2026 #California #SantaMonicaPier