The US Geological Survey is attempting to gather data that will show what beaches on the East and West coast looked like 150 years ago and how vulnerable an area is to a hurricane or tsunami. The technology the USGS is using will help protect the millions of Americans at risk of a change in sea level and retreating shorelines.
The project requires simple technology-- the tool runs on a computer, tablet or smartphone. It’s designed for non-governmental organizations, public groups and individuals. The website is the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Portal and boosts an easy to use template with a tutorial video.
“Our nation’s shoreline is constantly changing. Coastal communities face a variety of hazards due to extreme storms, long term coastal erosion and sea level rise. This tutorial shows an example of how to find coastal hazards information for a community, download it and share the information for others.”
This website uses the Coastal Vulnerability Index to show how susceptible an area is to sea level rise. Research Geologist with the USGS Rob Thieler says the portal was created based on information collected over 15 years. He says the information is broken down into three subsets.
“One is extreme storms, which right now is focused on hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts but is soon going to include nor’easters and Pacific coast storms. Another theme is long term shore line change.”
However, right now, if you go on the portal the data for Alaska is hard to come by compared to the lower 48. Thieler says Alaska poses some logistical problems but the program will be developing a way to work the state into the portal.
“It’s a little problematic in places like Alaska that’s both large and don’t have long term data sets. But it’s a long term data scale, we’ve used a variety of data to come up with potential sea level rise vulnerabilities and we do have data for Alaska out there available through our portal.”
Thieler says this portal is particularly important for communities on the Pacific Coast. He says hurricanes are predictable but tsunamis, because they are created from earthquakes, are difficult to predict. The portal is a way for residents to look at how shore lines have changed because of tsunamis and what to expect in the event of a major storm.
“We have tried to make information on potential hazard vulnerabilities at these different time scales from storm to sea level rise available so that people can contextualize where they are in the landscape and how that landscape is changing over time and how that landscape will change in the future.”
USGS is hoping the portal will be useful for organizations such as the National Weather Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. For more information or to see how your community is effected by sea level rise and shore change visit the website at www.marine.usgs.gov