InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Section 4: Society and Policy Making > Module 12: Sea level rise policy
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Module 12: Sea level rise policy

Overview

In the previous module, you learned how emergency managers can use the four stages of the disaster cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) to build communities that are resilient to short-term coastal hazards such as storm surge and tsunami. These short-term (or acute) hazards cause sea levels to rise quickly, remaining above flood levels for hours to days before falling back to normal. Before the seas settle, these acute hazards can leave lasting scars on the natural and human landscape: the tremendous erosive power of a hurricane's waves and surge can cut new channels in barrier islands; or sudden subsidence can combine with a tsunami wave to permanently drown a coastal plain. These examples illustrate a point that has been made repeatedly throughout this course: even short-term coastal hazards can have long-term consequences for lives and property.

However, this course has also stressed the importance of another, slower-paced hazard: sea level rise. Whether caused by rising water or sinking land (or both), this long-term, chronic hazard is slowly acting to increase the damage that acute coastal hazards can cause in many places. For example, New York City has experienced about one foot of sea level rise over the past century, which increased the extent of flooding during hurricane Sandy. Since rising seas are increasing the damage that tsunami and storm surge can cause, this module refers to these hazards collectively as "sea level rise and related hazards."

Activate Your Learning

This exercise is not for credit, but you are required to understand this material for the formal assessments in this module.

Required Reading

Sea level has risen about a foot in New York Harbor over the past century, increasing the region's exposure to storm surge. To learn more about New York City's vulnerabilities to sea level rise and what the city is doing to address them, read this interview with a NASA climate impacts expert. If this link does not take you directly to the article, go to: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/superstorm-sandy-and-sea-level-rise

After reading the article, answer the following questions:

Question 1 - Essay

Name one of the key infrastructure vulnerabilities for New York City identified in the interview.

Question 2 - Essay

Name one of the social vulnerabilities for New York City identified in the interview.

Question 3 - Essay

List two of the steps that New York City has taken to prepare for sea level rise and storm surge.

Question 4 - Essay

Do you think that the preparations described in the interview will be sufficient to protect New York City's infrastructure and people over the next 50 years? Why or why not?

Question 5 - Essay

Based on what you have already learned in this course, name another strategy (not listed in the interview) that the City could use to prepare for sea level rise and storm surge, and describe how this strategy would protect people and infrastructure.

Sea level rise can also threaten people and property on its own, without interacting with acute hazards such as storm surge and tsunami. As you have seen, these direct effects will likely be particularly severe in low-lying countries such as the Marshall Islands, where sea level rise is expected to flood up to two thirds of the land area by the end of this century.

Question 6 - Essay

Based on what you have already learned in this course, name another strategy (not listed in the interview) that the City could use to prepare for sea level rise and storm surge, and describe how this strategy would protect people and infrastructure.

Given its potential to cause damage on its own and to increase the damage caused by other coastal hazards, it should now be clear why many coastal communities need to prepare for sea level rise. In Unit 3 (Coastal Engineering and Societal Response to Coastal Hazards) you learned many of the strategies communities can use to prepare. This module builds on these earlier lessons by exploring a related problem: how can stakeholders choose which strategies for adapting to sea level rise are best for their communities, both now and in the future? Accordingly, this module focuses on the mitigation phase of the disaster cycle, and explores the following questions:

  • Who decides how to prepare for sea level rise?
  • What strategies can stakeholders' use to prepare?
  • How can stakeholders choose among these strategies?
  • Where should these strategies be implemented?
  • When should these strategies be implemented?

In the summative activity for this module, you will be asked to draft a report that addresses many of these questions for a real coastal community.

After the activity, a concluding section reviews why it is important to reflect on these questions and what they mean for the future of the relationship between coastal processes, hazards, and society.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »