Measuring local sea-level rise adaptation and adaptive capacity: A national survey in the United States

Abstract

Sea-level rise (SLR) has increasingly manifested the need for adaptation in the United States (US) coastal areas. Few empirical studies have investigated the extent of local SLR adaptation and adaptive capacity on a national scale. To address this research gap, I conducted a national survey among 231 coastal localities in the US and obtained 86 individual copies of surveys, with a response rate of 37.2%. I then employed multivariate regression models to examine the relationship between local actions and adaptive capacity while controlling for socioeconomic variations. Based on the survey results, I find that, at this nascent stage, the coastal localities are more actively investing in adaptation planning than actions. Among the adaptation actions, they generally preferred the protection and accommodation strategies to those of the managed retreat. Localities in this sample reported medium to low adaptive capacity, with leadership, funding, staff, and political environment being the weakest capacity elements. The regression results indicate that localities with higher adaptive capacity have been implementing more adaptation than those with limited capacity. This empirical research provides a first glance into local SLR adaptation and sheds light on the plausible pathways to building local adaptive capacity and improving coastal resilience through adaptation.