Climate Action 2014-2015

INNOVATIVE
TECHNOLOGIES TO HELP
PROTECT COASTAL AREAS
By Dr Porfirio Alvarez Torres, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico
"MEXICOOS will establish a
centralised accessible hub to
share data and information."
The natural habitats of the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea provide
protection to the coasts and people
from the impacts of climate change and
particularly sea level rise. But Mexico
needs to enhance its coastal and ocean
observing capabilities and to focus on
integration of the few existing human,
technical and data resources scattered in
several institutions.
The country has limited infrastructure
to forecast and to track the main
environmental hazards: red tides, algal
blooms, coastal erosion, storm surges,
flooding and those derived from oil
spills, ship grounding, maritime traffic
and fishing vessels among others.
Human settlements may be lost as rising
sea levels will erase wetlands, some
barrier islands, sea grass meadows, oyster
reefs and coral reefs. Many Gulf wetlands
are already submerged; increased water
depth results in less light being available
for sea grasses and corals, and more
turbidity for oysters. Several examples
have occurred in recent years of intense
storms and flooding, which damage
infrastructure, threatening massive loss
of property and life. In addition, ocean
acidification and increased temperature
interact to affect marine organisms.
MEXICOOS: AN ACCESSIBLE
HUB FOR INFORMATION
The National Polytechnic Institute
(IPN) is currently working towards
the implementation of the Mexican
Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observing
System (MEXICOOS), to support
robust and continuous assessment of
the environmental and oceanographic
conditions of the entire Mexican
Economic Exclusive Zone and the 1,992
km of the Gulf, Mexico and Caribbean
coasts, monitoring the marine and
coastal habitat and the infrastructure,
assessing the risks for people and
economies. MEXICOOS will establish
a centralised accessible hub to share data
and information to analyse both the
impacts and solutions to climate change
and sea level rise. IPN is committed
to address the gap between scientific
literature and knowledge transfer and
aims to conduct a risk and vulnerability
assessment of Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico
and Caribbean coasts under different
sea level rise and habitat degradation
scenarios.
Through the coastal and ocean
observing system IPN will enhance
our understanding of where coasts are
most vulnerable and where solutions
are emerging. This project is unique
because it quantifies the economic
role of habitat to protect Mexico’s
coasts and marine resources; it is deeply
participatory, and will be linked to the
Federal Government Ministry of the
Navy currently in charge of the National
Oceanographic Archives.
HARMONISING THE SYSTEMS
There is a crucial need to harmonise
COOS techniques and information
systems. The technical models set out
in the US and in Europe through
years of research and development
will be a valuable base to prototype
the ‘MEXICOOS architecture’ and to
validate it in the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico
must reinforce internal coordination,
define a COOS strategy and model,
and thereafter keep an open dialogue
in developing long-term technology.
The country must build a critical
MEXICOOS capacity, implementing
strategies towards resiliency of coastal
and maritime ecosystems, human
communities and infrastructure in the
face of climate change.
www.ipn.mx
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