Coastal Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerabilities - Climate ...

Information Gaps and Science Needed to Support Sustainable Coasts 121this uncertainty is illustrated in the wide range of end points in the projectedamount of sea-level rise through the end of this century (described in Chapter2.3). Confidence in predictions of regional change in mean sea level is evenlower, as are projections at decadal scales. Advancing our understanding of thedrivers of sea-level change and moving beyond the semi-empirical approachpresented in this report are research needs that are shared among all U.S.coastal communities and sectors of the coastal economy described in Chapter 4of this report.• Improved monitoring and collection of baseline data for coastal environmentsthrough linking networks of observing systems, developing time series dataon environmental and landscape changes, and assembling fully accessibleand searchable baseline data on coastal landforms, topography/bathymetry,animals, and plants for the coastal zone. This includes data on processes, tides,water level, waves, currents, precipitation, shoreline change, ocean circulationpatterns, ocean chemistry, temperature, coastal processes, and sedimentbudgets.• Improved understanding of ecosystems’ and species’ responses to basic environmentalforces such as changes in temperature, precipitation, and chemistryof oceans and water bodies.• Improved understanding of natural and human-influenced coastal systemsthrough use of historic and geologic records of coastal change, increasedknowledge of sea-level rise and coastal change over the past few millennia,identification of tipping points in coastal systems, and records that more closelyrelate past changes in climate to coastal change.• Improvements in predictive capabilities of coastal change through improvedquantitative assessment methods and integrating studies of the past andpresent into predictive models. Improved models are needed to assemble andprocess environmental data and aid in analysis as well as to make reliableprojections of future conditions such as rates of sea-level rise and ice-sheetmelting, changes in storm characteristics, and rates of shoreline retreat andwetland change.• Improved place-based understanding of the societal drivers of vulnerabilityand impacts of sea-level rise and related coastal changes through improveddata collection and integration, which must be followed up by communicatingthese findings to decision-makers. This includes generating consistent sea-levelrisescenarios and projections across federal agencies to support local planningand includes projection on the amount of sea-level rise within a region as wellas on storm information and the general time frame within which these changesare anticipated.• Research on adaptation, hazard risk reduction, and avoidance measures,including the cost, feasibility, side-effects, barriers, and acceptability, to supportadaptation planning and decision making.• Providing improved access to data, resources, and integrated assessmentsfor decision makers, thus facilitating the transfer of knowledge about risks,