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Climate change poses significant risks to coasts, from sea level rise and high-tide flooding to accelerated erosion and intensifying storms. USGS scientists help coastal communities better understand climate change impacts, inform emergency responses, and provide insights to improve resilience and preserve coastal resources in the future.
Millions of Americans live and play along the coast. Coastal counties are home to 127 million people (and growing!), accounting for \$8.6 trillion in goods and services each year. Coastal communities are well acquainted with the realities of living by the ocean – the storms, the waves, the salt, the sand. Yet climate change is altering the Nation’s coastal landscapes, creating new challenges for these communities that they are seldom equipped to face.
By helping people understand and respond to coastal change, the USGS helps communities become resilient to coastal hazards now and in the future.
USGS researchers use on-the-ground field work, high-resolution data, and modeling to help communities understand and respond to changes in coastal landscapes. Federal, Tribal, state, and local offices around the country use USGS data to inform coastal management and strategic planning. Some use our science to plan evacuation notices, inform city planning, and construct storm-resistant infrastructure. Others use USGS habitat assessments and decision support tools to restore coastal ecosystems, developing “green infrastructure” that can buffer against future storm damage and coastal erosion.
Our science helps to:
Forecast future storms, floods, and coastal erosion, and predict the resulting impacts on coasts
Build a better understanding of coastal ecosystems
Understand climate change impacts to coastal ecosystems and communities
Develop decision support tools to help coastal communities prepare for and recover from storms, floods, and erosion
Restore and protect coastal ecosystems that absorb greenhouse gasses, reducing the effects of climate change (blue carbon)
Geologist Ann Gibbs studies the vulnerability of the rapidly-warming Alaska coast to climate change effects like sea level rise and permafrost thawing.
Geologist Ann Gibbs studies the vulnerability of the rapidly-warming Alaska coast to climate change effects like sea level rise and permafrost thawing.
Along reef-lined shores of the Pacific Islands, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer Ferdinand Oberle studies how warming surface waters, nutrient runoff, and increasingly powerful storms impact coral reefs.
Along reef-lined shores of the Pacific Islands, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer Ferdinand Oberle studies how warming surface waters, nutrient runoff, and increasingly powerful storms impact coral reefs.
The sturdy root systems of mangrove forests act as buffer zones along the coastlines of some of the planet’s most vulnerable communities, protecting lives, ecosystems and property from the rigors of hurricanes and tsunamis.
The sturdy root systems of mangrove forests act as buffer zones along the coastlines of some of the planet’s most vulnerable communities, protecting lives, ecosystems and property from the rigors of hurricanes and tsunamis.
The marshes of Plum Island Estuary are among those predicted by scientists to submerge during the next century under conservative projections of sea-level rise.
The marshes of Plum Island Estuary are among those predicted by scientists to submerge during the next century under conservative projections of sea-level rise.
Steep watersheds with dramatic environmental gradients are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska.
Steep watersheds with dramatic environmental gradients are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska.
This video was prepared for Douglas Beard's presentation at COP26, Communities on the Frontline. Jerilyn Kelly, from Quinhagak, AK shares video and photographs from her community and some of the climate related challenges her community faces. She describes how erosion and permafrost degradation impact her community and their housing.
This video was prepared for Douglas Beard's presentation at COP26, Communities on the Frontline. Jerilyn Kelly, from Quinhagak, AK shares video and photographs from her community and some of the climate related challenges her community faces. She describes how erosion and permafrost degradation impact her community and their housing.
Join the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center as they uncover the secrets of the sediment on barrier islands in Pinellas County, Florida. This video was originally created for use at the 2021 virtual St. Petersburg Science Festival.
Join the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center as they uncover the secrets of the sediment on barrier islands in Pinellas County, Florida. This video was originally created for use at the 2021 virtual St. Petersburg Science Festival.
Explore some of the many USGS science projects on coastal change, storms, and sea level rise.
Climate change poses significant risks to coasts, from sea level rise and high-tide flooding to accelerated erosion and intensifying storms. USGS scientists help coastal communities better understand climate change impacts, inform emergency responses, and provide insights to improve resilience and preserve coastal resources in the future.
Millions of Americans live and play along the coast. Coastal counties are home to 127 million people (and growing!), accounting for \$8.6 trillion in goods and services each year. Coastal communities are well acquainted with the realities of living by the ocean – the storms, the waves, the salt, the sand. Yet climate change is altering the Nation’s coastal landscapes, creating new challenges for these communities that they are seldom equipped to face.
By helping people understand and respond to coastal change, the USGS helps communities become resilient to coastal hazards now and in the future.
USGS researchers use on-the-ground field work, high-resolution data, and modeling to help communities understand and respond to changes in coastal landscapes. Federal, Tribal, state, and local offices around the country use USGS data to inform coastal management and strategic planning. Some use our science to plan evacuation notices, inform city planning, and construct storm-resistant infrastructure. Others use USGS habitat assessments and decision support tools to restore coastal ecosystems, developing “green infrastructure” that can buffer against future storm damage and coastal erosion.
Our science helps to:
Forecast future storms, floods, and coastal erosion, and predict the resulting impacts on coasts
Build a better understanding of coastal ecosystems
Understand climate change impacts to coastal ecosystems and communities
Develop decision support tools to help coastal communities prepare for and recover from storms, floods, and erosion
Restore and protect coastal ecosystems that absorb greenhouse gasses, reducing the effects of climate change (blue carbon)
Geologist Ann Gibbs studies the vulnerability of the rapidly-warming Alaska coast to climate change effects like sea level rise and permafrost thawing.
Geologist Ann Gibbs studies the vulnerability of the rapidly-warming Alaska coast to climate change effects like sea level rise and permafrost thawing.
Along reef-lined shores of the Pacific Islands, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer Ferdinand Oberle studies how warming surface waters, nutrient runoff, and increasingly powerful storms impact coral reefs.
Along reef-lined shores of the Pacific Islands, USGS Research Geologist and Oceanographer Ferdinand Oberle studies how warming surface waters, nutrient runoff, and increasingly powerful storms impact coral reefs.
The sturdy root systems of mangrove forests act as buffer zones along the coastlines of some of the planet’s most vulnerable communities, protecting lives, ecosystems and property from the rigors of hurricanes and tsunamis.
The sturdy root systems of mangrove forests act as buffer zones along the coastlines of some of the planet’s most vulnerable communities, protecting lives, ecosystems and property from the rigors of hurricanes and tsunamis.
The marshes of Plum Island Estuary are among those predicted by scientists to submerge during the next century under conservative projections of sea-level rise.
The marshes of Plum Island Estuary are among those predicted by scientists to submerge during the next century under conservative projections of sea-level rise.
Steep watersheds with dramatic environmental gradients are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska.
Steep watersheds with dramatic environmental gradients are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska.
This video was prepared for Douglas Beard's presentation at COP26, Communities on the Frontline. Jerilyn Kelly, from Quinhagak, AK shares video and photographs from her community and some of the climate related challenges her community faces. She describes how erosion and permafrost degradation impact her community and their housing.
This video was prepared for Douglas Beard's presentation at COP26, Communities on the Frontline. Jerilyn Kelly, from Quinhagak, AK shares video and photographs from her community and some of the climate related challenges her community faces. She describes how erosion and permafrost degradation impact her community and their housing.
Join the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center as they uncover the secrets of the sediment on barrier islands in Pinellas County, Florida. This video was originally created for use at the 2021 virtual St. Petersburg Science Festival.
Join the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center as they uncover the secrets of the sediment on barrier islands in Pinellas County, Florida. This video was originally created for use at the 2021 virtual St. Petersburg Science Festival.
Explore some of the many USGS science projects on coastal change, storms, and sea level rise.
