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Coastal Natural Hazards
National Sea Grant Goal: Enhance preparedness to prevent or greatly reduce human deaths, injuries, property and environmental damages, and associated economic losses caused by coastal natural hazards.
This national theme is aimed primarily at mitigating the risks and damage posed by hurricanes and tsunamis along the nation’s saltwater coasts. In the Great Lakes region, the principal coastal natural hazards are coastal flooding, storm surges and wave run-up, especially during times of above-normal water levels, which can cause severe erosion and damage or destroy coastal structures. Conversely, below-normal water levels reduce navigation safety in shallow channels and the entrances to ports and marinas for mariners, commercial fishers and recreational boaters alike. Storms, extreme water levels and winter ice on these freshwater seas pose significant risks to profitable and safe navigation and to coastal infrastructure. Hazards for swimmers include coastal rip currents and bacterial contamination of beach waters. Hypothermia is an ever-present natural hazard to everyone exposed to these cold northern seas.
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s priorities in this thematic area are to (1) develop an understanding and communicate scientific, technical and public information on the impacts of climate change on Great Lakes communities; (2) develop and apply geographic information systems (GIS) for assessing and reducing natural coastal hazard risks; (3) evaluate impacts of extreme Great Lakes water levels on coastal infrastructure; (4) develop an understanding and communicate to user groups the causes of and effective strategies for coping with coastal slope failures, shore erosion and flooding due to storm waves, lakebed erosion, storm surges and high Great Lakes water levels, and (5) increase public safety through greater awareness of Great Lakes hazards (navigation hazards, hypothermia, rip currents, bacterial contamination of beaches, etc.).
While Wisconsin Sea Grant will not be funding any projects specific to this theme during the biennium, several projects in other themes have relevance to this one, and most of these priorities will be addressed through outreach program activities.
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