While stronger storms may deliver bigger waves, long-term effects could permanently alter or erase many surf spots. Unlike reef-formed breaks in Australia and Hawaii, other surf spots depend on sand bars and beaches to create the waves.

As sea levels rise and coastal storms grow, breaks could disappear when water too deep and waves blocked by hard defenses built to shield towns and infrastructure. Only with natural buffers, such as wetlands and dunes, utilized to protect coastlines, allowing flow over land, will new breaks possibly appear.