2016 AAAS Annual Meeting (February 11-15, 2016)

February 10 - 15, 2016

Creating Resilient Cities in the Face of Global Sea Level Rise

Rising sea level is a topic of grave concern in low-lying coastal areas around the world, with ramifications that ripple through the rest of society. While the issue of adapting to sea level rise is largely local, it will take regional and global cooperation to efficiently develop and implement policies and strategies to respond. Averting irreversible changes in regional water supplies, ecosystems, and the economies of coastal cities poses significant challenges. Potential changes in precipitation, extreme events, and gradual sea level rise create uncertainties for management of water resources. In 2000, it was estimated that over 200 million people globally were impacted by groundwater salinity due to lateral seawater intrusion. The challenges societies face are not only ” keeping pace” with change so as to preserve valuable coastal ecosystem services, but also minimizing tradeoffs between restoring vulnerable ecosystems and other consumptive and non-consumptive uses of water. This session provides an interdisciplinary forum for discussing projected impacts of sea level rise on physical, economic, social, ecological, and health infrastructure, and potential solutions for mitigating these impacts. Presenters will discuss alternative strategies for adaptation to sea level rise in vulnerable coastal communities, including southern Florida, the Gulf Coast of Texas, and Southeast Asia.