NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science has awarded more than $1.1 million for research to give coastal communities new ways to incorporate natural infrastructure, such as restored wetlands, into their coastal resilience planning for sea level rise and coastal flooding.
Coastal communities and their ecosystems are threatened by rising seas and coastal flooding that take away land, alter habitats, and make people, homes and businesses more vulnerable to coastal storms.
Rising sea levels can also change how ecosystems work, especially when combined with inundation from tides and storms.
“ As more people continue to move and live near the coast we have the challenge of protecting them from coastal hazards while also protecting the ecosystems in their communities ,” said Russell Callender, Ph.D., acting assistant NOAA administrator for the National Ocean Service.
“ These awards will provide the new tools coastal managers need to plan for sea level rise and flooding, and improve the coastal resilience of their communities and the ecosystem that sustains them.”
Funding, under NOAA’s Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise Program and Climate Vulnerability Initiative, will support these five new projects in California, Oregon, North Carolina and Hawaii: