Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Demographics And Risk Of Isolation Due To Sea Level Rise In The United States, Kelsea Best, Qian He, Allison C. Reilly, Deb A. Niemeier, Mitchell Anderson, Tom Logan

School of Earth & Environment Faculty Scholarship

Within coastal communities, sea level rise (SLR) will result in widespread intermittent flooding and long-term inundation. Inundation effects will be evident, but isolation that arises from the loss of accessibility to critical services due to inundation of transportation networks may be less obvious. We examine who is most at risk of isolation due to SLR, which can inform community adaptation plans and help ensure that existing social vulnerabilities are not exacerbated. Combining socio-demographic data with an isolation metric, we identify social and economic disparities in risk of isolation under different SLR scenarios (1-10 ft) for the coastal U.S. We show …