The Development of a Coastal Risk Assessment Database: Vulnerability to Sea-Level Rise in the U.S. Southeast

Permanent or temporary increases in sea levels from global warming, subsidence, or storms threaten many coastal areas with erosion, inundation, and episodic flooding. The U.S. Southeast (extending from the Virginia—North Carolina border to the Texas—Mexican border), due to its relatively low relief,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal research 1994-01, p.327-338
Main Authors: Gornitz, Vivien M., Daniels, Richard C., White, Tammy W., Birdwell, Kevin R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coasts
Cyclones
Erosion
Hurricanes
PART VII: Coastal Hazard Mitigation and Management
Sea level
Sea level rise
Shorelines
Topographical elevation
Tropical storms
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Permanent or temporary increases in sea levels from global warming, subsidence, or storms threaten many coastal areas with erosion, inundation, and episodic flooding. The U.S. Southeast (extending from the Virginia—North Carolina border to the Texas—Mexican border), due to its relatively low relief, appears to be one of our nation's most vulnerable regions. In this study a Coastal Risk Assessment Database was developed for use with a geographic information system to identify the coastal areas at risk to erosion, permanent inundation, and episodic flooding in the U.S. Southeast. This database contains 13 land, marine, and climatological variables, including: lithology, elevation, subsidence, erosion/accretion, tropical storm probabilities of occurrence, and maximum storm surge. These variables were grouped into three categories using factor analysis. Each category was then weighted based on its perceived importance in determining the relative risk of an area to erosion or inundation. These weighted factors were used to calculate a risk index. This index classified approximately 30% of the Gulf Coast and 15% of the East Coast as being at very high risk to inundation or increased erosion from sealevel rise. High risk coastlines, as defined here, have one or more of the following characteristics: low coastal elevations, erodible substrates (i.e., sand or other unconsolidated sediments), present and past evidence of subsidence, histories of extensive shoreline retreat, high wave/tide energies, and high probabilities of being hit by tropical storms, hurricanes, or extratropical cyclones.
ISSN:0749-0208
1551-5036