Treading Water: Tools to Help US Coastal Communities Plan for Sea Level Rise Impacts

Emily A Smith,J Derek Loftis,David Malmquist,Molly Mitchell,Molly Baringer,William Sweet,Gustavo Goni,John Boon,John Haines,Ricardo Domingues,Christopher P Weaver

doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00300

Abstract

As communities grapple with rising seas and more frequent flooding events, they need improved projections of future rise and flooding over multiple time horizons to assist in a multitude of planning efforts. There are currently a few different tools available that communities can use to plan including the Sea Level Report Card and products generated by a U.S. Federal interagency task force on sea level rise. These tools are a start, but it is recognized that they are not necessarily enough at present to give communities the types of information needed for decision support, which ranges from seasonal to decadal in nature, generally over relatively small geographic regions.

Highlights

Sea level rise is a real and present effect of climate change that is already impacting communities globally
We examine a few case studies of communities that are directly experiencing these more frequent effects of sea level changes today and look at how they are adapting
The most critical information communities need for planning is an understanding of the likely extent and impact of future flooding on a local scale, which emphasizes RSL rise rates – and associated extreme water levels – rather than global or regional sea level rise

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Sea level rise is a real and present effect of climate change that is already impacting communities globally. The sea level is rising globally due to the thermal expansion and melting of land glaciers and ice sheets (Church and White, 2011), but that process is not uniform around the world. The combined effects of these global and regional processes can lead to recurrent flooding events that are rapidly increasing in frequency and magnitude (Sweet and Park, 2014). These events pose a threat to coastal communities; human life and health; ecosystems and infrastructure; and require large efforts to prepare for and mitigate potential damage

Treading Water

NEEDED INFORMATION FOR COMMUNITIES TO PLAN

Sea Level Report Card

Spatial Scale

Findings

CONCLUSION