Effect of Climate Change on Coastal Systems and Infrastructure

Location: NW Florida (Walton, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties)

Description: We are investigating the potential effects of near-term (~100 years) sea-level change on the northwest Florida coast. The interdisciplinary environmental project is examining potential changes to natural coastal systems and infrastructure in response to several scenarios of sea-level rise and storminess. We are using remote-sensing data and field measurements of coastal environments as input to an integrated modeling effort designed to predict changes to coastal systems and human infrastructure. The modeling results will be used to evaluate how to make reliable predictions of the effects of future climate change and to enable cost-effective mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Faculty Involved: Dr. Joseph Donoghue (EOAS), Dr.. James Elsner (FSU-Geography), Dr. Bill Hu (EOAS), Dr. Stephen Kish (EOAS), Dr. Yang Wang (EOAS), Dr. Ming Ye (FSU-Computational Science), and Dr. Alan Niedoroda (URS Corp.), and several graduate student assistants.

Filed Under: Climate Sciences

The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of national and international research and public organizations, scientists, and individuals concerned with achieving a better understanding of climate variability and change.