Can’t ‘See’ Sea Level Rise? You’re Looking in the Wrong Place
Sea level rise is a global problem. This blog post highlights a key paradox about sea level rise: since it occurs relatively slowly, it can be easy to think it’s not happening. But, if you’re not seeing it, you’re just not looking in the right place.
CanVis
CanVis is a simple software program that allows users to visualize potential impacts of coastal development or climate change (inundation, SLR) allowing conservation planners and stakeholders to better understand the impacts of their decisions.
Coastal Lands
Coastal areas are commonly defined as the interface or transition areas between land and sea, including large inland lakes. Climate change is impacting and will continue to affect coastal areas in a variety of ways. Coasts are sensitive to sea level rise, changes in the frequency and intensity of storms, increases in precipitation, and warmer ocean temperatures. In addition, rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing the oceans to absorb more of the gas and become more acidic. These changes are already impacting coastal and marine ecosystems.
Coastal Vulnerability Maps and Study – U.S. East Coast and Texas
Coastal Vulnerability Maps and Study shows the elevation of coastal areas from Massachusetts to Florida as well as Texas. A sea level rise planning study which integrates information related to land use, zoning, and anticipated development to determine the future likelihood of shore protection and prevention of inland wetland migration is also included.
Keeping a Steady Eye on Sea Level Change from Space
Currently, sea levels rise an average of 0.13 inches (3.3 millimeters) per year, more than twice the rate at the start of the 20th century. For nearly three decades NASA satellites have been providing critical information about change sea levels. helped researchers reveal the inner workings of weather phenomena like El Niño and to forecast how much the ocean could encroach on coastlines around the world. Now, engineers and scientists are preparing two satellites to add to this legacy, extending the dataset another decade.
NASA Watches Sea Level Rise from Space, and its Centers’ Windows
NASA has been monitoring global temperatures, ice melt, and sea level rise as part of its science mission for decades. Now it is also using these data to prepare its own centers for the eventual impacts.
NASA-led Study Reveals the Causes of Sea Level Rise Since 1900
Sea levels are rising at a faster rate than at any time in the 20th century. But previous estimates of the mass of melting ice and thermal expansion of the ocean fell short of explaining this rate, particularly before the era of precise satellite observations of the world’s oceans, creating a deficit in the historic sea level budget. By gaining new insights into historic measurements, scientists can better forecast how each of these factors will affect sea level rise and how this rise will impact us in the future.
Ocean at the Door: New Homes and the Rising Sea
Sea levels are rising. Recent housing growth rates are faster in ten-year flood-risk zones in a third of all coastal states. Climate Central and Zillow publish updated projections of possible impacts in coastal areas in this updated 2019 report.
Planning for Sea Level Rise in the Northeast: Considerations for the Implementation of Tidal Wetland Habitat Restoration Projects
Planning for Sea Level Rise in the Northeast: Considerations for the Implementation of Tidal Wetland Habitat Restoration Projects summarizes the results of a September 2010 workshop focused on how to address the impacts of sea level rise on tidal wetland restoration projects and includes draft recommendations for future projects.
PROTECTING THE PATHWAYS: A Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Hudson River Estuary Tidal Wetlands
Scenic Hudson’s Hudson River Estuary (HRE) wetland study examined the projected persistence of current wetlands, their loss to inundation, and the formation of new wetlands as measures of the habitat’s resilience to sea level rise (SLR). Under higher rates of SLR tidal wetland resilience in the estuary will depend more heavily on successful horizontal wetland migration into new areas.
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