Coast Resilience In Schools

The rise of sea levels are projected to increase warmer waters from one and a half to two degrees in Central North Pacific in 2050, 1.9 to 2.6 degrees in Northern Islands, and also two to five degrees in the Caribbean at the end of this century. This rise of temperature decreases the life of ecosystems in the ocean and resulting in less freshwater for

People living in Miami are in the face of danger, and for the most part they are not aware of it. Due to high population, Miami is the fourth largest city to become affected by sea level rise. (Ankum et al.) In the next 32-50 years, sea level is expected to rise by as much as two feet. (Ankum et al.) This two-foot rise will have detrimental effects on the urban settings of Miami. The amount of soil erosion that is undergoing at our beaches will greatly increase if a two-foot rise occurs. At a four-foot rise, road connectivity would begin to become affected. At a six-foot rise, Southern Florida would no longer be habitable as it would, for the most part, be underwater. Not much is being invested in mitigation efforts, most of what is being done are short term solutions. Instead of coming up with ideas to prevent and try to slow down the effects of climate change on our environment, we are focusing on ideas such as building up a sea wall, relocating power plants, and redesigning structures.

Jeff Goodell's book introduces an inside look at rising sea levels and their effect on our world. Goodell's book describes a journey to different cities and towns to figure out how to conform to sea levels that are continuing to rise. He travels to places like small Alaskan villages, to the city of Lagos, and returns throughout the book to Miami. Miami is one of the areas that demonstrated the challenges of trying to keep the ocean at bay. According to Goodell, because of carbon dioxide emissions, sea level rising is guaranteed. People need to help the problem by lowering the emissions of these toxic gases.

Over the past several million years sea level has fluctuated considerably higher and lower than present levels. With these fluctuations the shoreline has shifted inland and further out, onto the continental shelf, than the present shorelines. The Northern Gulf of Mexico has followed the general path of global sea level during recent geologic time including the time since the last glacial maximum. During the last glacial maximum, 20,000 years ago, the sea level dropped approximately 100m below the present level and the shoreline extended 100km onto the shelf in some locations (Donoghue, 2011). Since the last glacial maximum the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico has seen a rise in sea level at a rate exceeding those seen at any other time. The rate of overall sea level rise since the last glacial maximum is 6mm a year with some periods of rise in excess of 40mm a year. The rate has slowed and stabilized over the last 6,000 years and this has allowed ecosystems and

Sea level rise caused by global warming poses clear threats to coastal populations in Connecticut. In fact, models have depicted that the rate of global sea level rise could elevate by two to five times by the end of this century, and this will affect the health of residents and the state’s economy due to increase the impacts of coastal storms in urban areas (Gornitz et al., 2004). Reports have shown that Connecticut’s coastline has historically been at risk due to coastal storms (Frumhoff et al., 2007). For instance, a 2007 synthesis report of Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (NECIA) suggested that there might be an increase in the number of winter storms received in coastal Connecticut (particularly late in the winter). Also, in the

The sea levels are rising due to the compaction of the groundwater withdrawals, post-glaciation settling, and the effects from the meteor crater in the Chesapeake Bay. The sea levels are slowly rising in present day but with the hurricanes and nor'easters they help aid in making those levels rise faster of a period of time. If the climate warmed two degrees, the sea levels will rise which will cause the beaches to erode and create flooding. Due to sea levels rising, about 13.1 million people in Virginia will be displaced and approximately two billion people in the world. Coastal resilience is the community coming together to build a stronger community after extreme weather storms or any hazardous events. This is to make sure that the community is prepared for the next possible hazardous event so that the impact is less

Many communities are suffering due to coastal erosion. One example is the village of Cocodrie, LA in Terrebonne Parish. This village’s small population and its 220 residential and commercial buildings are surrounded by marshes. In Cocodrie, there is no barrier against hurricanes. Local marinas play host to recreational and commercial fishing, and The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium is located in Cocodrie. This facility of around 100,000 square ft houses laboratories, classrooms, and a research center. Infrastructure that will be affected by coastal erosion includes paved highway, dirt roads, a bridge, water supply systems, and natural gas lines. By 2050, Cocodrie will be surrounded by open water as the marshlands around the village give way to rising sea levels. Another community affected by this issue is Yscloskey, LA in St. Bernard Parish. The most important part of the economy here is fishing, and highways link the parish to New Orleans fishing communities. The Yscloskey area lies outside of the protective levees and is quite vulnerable to storms. Though losses in Yscloskey are not predicted to be as great as those in Cocodrie, a 16 percent loss by 2050 leaves the infrastructure of Yscloskey even more vulnerable (Coast 2050, 1998, p. 64-66). Local residents in these areas are watching the land disappear along with the beachfronts and Cyprus swamps that were on that land (Marshall, 2014).

There are many areas in Tampa that will be unfortunately underwater. As we saw with the heavy rains in late 2015, the most vital areas such as Westshore Ave, South Tampa, Bayshore Ave, and even Downtown had major flooding causing delays in traffic and safety anxieties. While the flooding only lasted a few days, the event brought attention to the Tampa’s faulty infrastructure and drainage systems. An alarming thought is how Tampa will be able to protect itself from a storm or the rising sea levels if the drainage systems are inadequate. The Tampa Bay area is due for a natural disaster any day now; the coastal area is highly vulnerable. According to Sara Kerr, “One place that we have to look carefully at is Tampa where there is a huge concentration at risk from a storm surge, but there hasn’t been an event for 150 years and so the city is fairly complacent about its risk” (2015). A possible catastrophe can pose as an environmental challenge in Tampa Bay as the highly populous areas will not be able to withstand rising sea levels that will occur.

Since 1880, records show that the sea level has bone up 8 inches. If it goes up six more inches, as the current studies indicate could happen within 20 years, South Florida’s flood control would be devastated. In South Florida, taxpayers are already paying the price for climate change as salt-water pushes through porous bedrock into coastal drinking-water supplies, and rivers and canals choked by heavy rains have a harder time draining into the ocean.

“‘We know even relatively small amounts of sea level rise affect us,’ [Carl Spector, commissioner of Boston’s Environment Department] said. ‘All the models we’re seeing are concerning’” (Abel). Climate change, the warming and changing of the Earth’s atmosphere, has become a very prevalent issue over the past century. Despite having numerous sources in terms of hard evidence, many people still do not believe in the effects of climate change. Sea level rise is one effect of climate change that may change the minds of many because of its reality in today’s world. This issue is especially relevant in the Northeast because of several factors that further affect the sea level rise. In order to stop further effects on the Northeast, legislators must

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, almost 40% of the population lives in high population-dense coastal areas. Around the world, eight of the world’s ten largest cities are situated near a coast, with about 250 million people living by a coast line less than 5 feet above sea level. It is projected that all of these people will be directly affected in some way by seawater rising in the future (Siegert, 2017). For the county of Orleans Parish, the rapid loss of coastal land is not a future scenario, but a current reality. Due to our unique geography, Louisiana loses about 16 square miles a year; the rapid erosion of Louisiana’s cost is only expected to accelerate over time. (Wernick, 2014).

Cities in Florida also lack the technology, money and manpower to keep back the seas by themselves (“Sea rise”, 2015). Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists about risks to cities and drinking water, skepticism over sea-level projections and climate-change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of

Coastal Resilience is the act of building the ability of a community to bounce back and rebuild itself after hazardous events such as hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding. A community more informed and prepared will have a greater opportunity to rebound quickly from weather and climate-related events, including adapting to sea level rise. According to the City of Norfolk website, Norfolk is coming up with a plan called the Norfolk Flooding Strategy which is an integrative process of planning, mitigating, and communicating to reduce flood dangers. Norfolk is extremely susceptible to flooding because the tidewater area is extremely below sea level. Scientists project that within the next 80 years , the sea level in Norfolk will rise another

Attention Getting Device: On November 21, 2017 NASA published an article on the issue of global climate change which quoted this, ''NASA tool link port-city seal levels to regional ice melts''. NASA has been working to minimize the effect of global climate change and recently it has developed 'NASA tools'. This particular tool links changes in sea level of around 293 global port cities. Most specifically, the tool links changes seen in vulnerable regions, such as Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula, where ice lands are melting rapidly. Such development will allow coastal planners to be aware and prepare for rising seas level for years to come.

The combination of these and other trends was an estimated average sea-level increase of 1.5mm per year between 1961 and 2003, which reached 2.4mm per year in the decade from 1993 to 2003. The decades prior to this trend showed only minor fluctuations in sea-level, suggesting that the current rate exceeds what could be caused by natural cycles. While the exact impact of rising oceans is difficult to determine, it is certain that the consequences will include some degree of flooding, integration of salt water into water tables, and a loss of land due to coastal erosion and submersion.6