Need a job? Go build sea walls in California

Here's a growth industry through the year 2100: Building sea walls in California.

A study released by the Pacific Institute this week estimates that California will lose 41 square miles of coastline by 2100 and that about 1,100 miles of new sea walls and other flood protections are needed at an initial cost of about $14 billion, with another $1.4 billion per year in upkeep, according to an Associated Press story.

Climate change and its resulting rising sea level could cost California $100 billion in property loss by the end of the century, with two-thirds of the loss in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Almost half a million people who live in areas at risk would be affected by flooding. Areas that would be under water include 3,500 miles of roads, 30 power plants, 29 waste-water treatment plants and San Francisco and Oakland International airports.

"Sea levels have risen observably in the past century, and scientists forecast that sea-level rise will continue for centuries, even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases immediately," the report states.