NOAA Awards $4.4M For Research On Sea Level Rise And Flooding

Multi-year awards to help coastal communities improve resilience

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science is awarding more than $1.5M in fiscal year 2019, of an anticipated total of $4.4M over the next three years, to more than 30 academic, government and non-governmental organizations for research into how natural, man-made and restored coastal habitats could reduce the effects of sea level rise, flooding and storms.

Coastal communities and their surrounding ecosystems are increasingly threatened by rising seas and coastal flooding that alters shorelines. This can make people, homes and businesses more vulnerable to impacts from coastal storms. Rising sea levels can also change how ecosystems work, especially when combined with flooding from tides and storms. As threats to our coasts increase, coping with sea level rise and flooding has become a priority for local communities to address.

Protecting and restoring natural features, like coastal wetlands, mangroves and beaches, can provide substantial economic benefits to coastal communities by providing flood protection and critical habitat, among others,” said David Kidwell, NCCOS’s Competitive Research Program director. “As the benefits of natural features are increasingly understood, communities can better evaluate risk reduction solutions for protection beyond traditional hardened shorelines.”

Funding under NOAA’s Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise Program will support six new research projects in California, Florida, the Chesapeake Bay region, North Carolina and the Pacific Northwest. A full list and summary of the grant awards is available online.

These awards contribute to a larger NOAA effort to provide science to inform decisions, conserve priority ecosystems and advance the use of natural infrastructure to lessen the effects of coastal hazards.

NCCOS delivers ecosystem science solutions for NOAA’s National Ocean Service and its partners, bringing research, scientific information and tools to help balance the nation’s ecological, social and economic goals. Visit our website for more about NCCOS research.

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NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.