COASTAL HAZARDS @ VIRGINIA TECH
A parameterized climate change projection model for hurricane flooding, wave action, economic damages, and population dynamics
PI: Jennifer Irish
Co-PIs: Cecilia Giusti, James Kaihatu, Francisco Olivera, Zhong-Ren Peng
Co-PIs: Cecilia Giusti, James Kaihatu, Francisco Olivera, Zhong-Ren Peng
Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program (Grant No. NA10OAR4170099)
Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones are one of the leading natural threats to coastal communities. Recently, the United States has experience some of its highest hurricane surges on record with the surges generated along the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and Katrina. Possible acceleration of sea level rise (SLR) and intensification of hurricanes as a consequence of long-term global warming can lead to increased hurricane flooding, wave action, and damages, which in turn can lead to future population shifts. However, the potential implications of global warming, namely SLR and hurricane intensification, on hurricane inundation, damages, and community behavior are not well understood. In this project, we addressed this shortcoming by developing generalized, probabilistic models for the physical and socioeconomic response to future hurricane conditions along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.
Acknowledgements & Credits: This material is based upon work supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding sponsor. Background photo courtesy of Sadatsugu Tomizawa (Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
© 2016 Jennifer L. Irish & Robert Weiss. All Rights Reserved.