CoastalResilience

The Issue

Coastlines have always been dynamic ecosystems where tides, winds, and sediment movement combine to change the landscape. The forces will only get more intense because of the increasing pace of sea level rise and development of these shorelines. Human and natural communities near the shore are at greater risk than ever and the losses and costs of coastal hazards are growing as investments in coastal development increase.

Coastal communities are at further risk as their natural buffers such as coastal wetlands and dunes are lost. Abating these losses and protecting communities can be achieved by proactively managing coastal natural resources.

Sea level rise is not a bridge to be crossed when “we get there.” It is real, its effects are already evident, and it will affect our coasts for the foreseeable future.

Despite the risks, communities and local decision-makers still have little access to information needed to protect our natural and human coastal communities from the dramatic changes that are coming, and are indeed already underway.

The unique tools presented here explore flooding scenarios resulting from sea level rise and storm surge for the south shore of Long Island, New York. The information is presented without hype or hyperbole in a user-friendly framework that can be used to inform decision making. Chief among these tools is an interactive mapper that helps users visualize flooding using a range of sea level rise and storm scenarios.

Long Island, New York is the ideal case study for examining future flooding scenarios and approaches for responding to these changes now. Home to 7.5 million people, low-lying Long Island is heavily developed along much of its shoreline, and is at risk of inundation from sea level rise and coastal flooding. There are also significant barrier islands, dunes, and wetlands that provide critical habitat for natural communities and buffers for human communities.