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Physical Climate Forces

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Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerabilities

Part of the book series: NCA Regional Input Reports ((NCARIR))

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Abstract

More than 50 percent of Americans live in coastal watershed counties, a percentage that continues to increase (see section 1.3). In addition, the coast is home to the majority of major urban centers as well as major infrastructure such as seaports, airports, transportation routes, oil import and refining facilities, power plants, and military facilities. All of these human uses, which represent trillions of dollars in economic investment as well as valuable coastal ecosystems, are vulnerable in varying degrees to rising global temperature and hazards such as sea-level rise, storms, and extreme floods. Intense human activity over the past century has degraded many coastal environments and stressed natural ecosystems. Nationwide, nearshore areas and estuaries are polluted with excess nitrogen and other chemicals, toxic coastal algal blooms are increasing, fish stocks are depleted, wetland loss has been dramatic, and coral reefs are bleached and dying. Climate change exacerbates these stresses on ecosystems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, USA

    S. Jeffress Williams, Thomas G. Huntington & E. Robert Thieler

  2. University of Victoria, Canada

    David Atkinson

  3. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, USA

    Aaron R. Byrd, Jay Ratcliff & Ty V. Wamsley

  4. University of Alaska, USA

    Hajo Eicken, Yongwon Kim & Thomas Ravens

  5. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA

    Timothy M. Hall, Thomas R. Knutson, James P. Kossin, John J. Marra & Adam Parris

  6. GW Scientific, USA

    Michael Lilly

  7. South Florida Water Management District, USA

    Jayantha Obeysekera

  8. University of North Florida, USA

    Don Resio

  9. Oregon State University, USA

    Peter Ruggiero

  10. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA

    James G. Titus

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Climate and Land Use Change, U.S. Geological Survey, North Courthouse Street 540, 71449, Many, Louisiana, USA

    Virginia Burkett

  2. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Coastal Services Center, South Hobson Avenue 2234, 29405-2413, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

    Margaret Davidson

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Williams, S.J. et al. (2012). Physical Climate Forces. In: Burkett, V., Davidson, M. (eds) Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerabilities. NCA Regional Input Reports. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-460-4_2

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