Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Delayed Coastal Inundations Caused By Ocean Dynamics Post-Hurricane Matthew, Kyungmin Park, Emanuele Di Lorenzo, Yinglong J. Zhang, Tal Ezer, Fei Yi

CCPO Publications

Post Hurricane Abnormal Water Level (PHAWL) poses a persistent inundation threat to coastal communities, yet unresolved knowledge gaps exist regarding its spatiotemporal impacts and causal mechanisms. Using a high-resolution coastal model with a set of observations, we find that the PHAWLs are up to 50 cm higher than the normal water levels for several weeks and cause delayed inundations around residential areas of the U.S. Southeast Coast (USSC). Numerical experiments reveal that while atmospheric forcing modulates the coastal PHAWLs, ocean dynamics primarily driven by the Gulf Stream control the mean component and duration of the shelf-scale PHAWLs. Because of the …

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 …

Climate Change, Site Formation, And Indigenous Use Of Coastlines In Barbuda, Isabel C. Rivera-Collazo, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

This article explores the landscape dynamics at the island of Barbuda in the context of changing climate to understand (1) the environmental setting of indigenous settlements; (2) the impacts of current coastal processes; and (3) the potential threats moving forward toward increasing pressure of climate change. Focusing on the site of Seaview, on the east coast of Barbuda, we use geoarchaeological methods to reconstruct the ancient geomorphological setting, investigate changes post-abandonment, and identify the hazards faced under future sea-level projections. Our study shows that (1) sea level stabilization after the Mid-Holocene allowed the formation of coral reefs, seagrass beds and …

Preparing Students To Solve Challenges Related To A Changing Climate, Mujde Erten-Unal, Dalya Ismael, Carol L. Considine

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The National Academy of Engineering has identified restoring and improving urban infrastructure as one of the grand challenges for engineering. Urban coastal communities are particularly at risk as their infrastructure is experiencing frequent inundation related to climate change impacts. Rising sea levels in coastal communities create backflow into stormwater systems and deplete capacity. In addition, the increase in rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency related to climate change create additional challenges for aging infrastructure systems. To prepare students to solve these challenges, the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Civil Engineering Technology (CET) programs at Old Dominion University (ODU) are introducing …

Anticipating And Adapting To The Impacts Of Climate Change On Low Elevation Coastal Zone (Lecz) Communities, Lynn Donelson Wright, Thomas Allen, Kiki Caruson, Alain Hénaff, Jaia Syvitski

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

[Scholarcy Abstract] The rates of sea level rise in coastal Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay significantly exceed the global rate and weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation adds to the annual rates.

The original vision was to enhance future resilience of Low-Elevation Coastal Zone communities by advancing understandings and approaches to better anticipate and mitigate hazards to human health, safety and welfare and reduce deleterious impacts to coastal residents and industries. The goal of the thematic Research Topic has been to assemble interdisciplinary papers that contribute to better understanding of the couplings among physical, ecological, socioeconomic, management and policy …

Climate Change And The Specter Of Statelessness, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

What happens when climate change extinguishes entire nations? Neither international nor environmental law has provided a satisfactory answer to this weighty question. Climate change-induced flooding, storm surge, and sea level rise threaten the territorial integrity and habitability of several small island developing states, raising the specter of statelessness. We know that climate catastrophe is coming, but we have failed to take the necessary steps to safeguard several developing nations. This Article argues that innovative legal and policy solutions are needed today to prevent nation extinction tomorrow. I focus on two potential international governance solutions: the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate …

Acceleration Of U.S. Southeast And Gulf Coast Sea-Level Rise Amplified By Internal Climate Variability, Sönke Dangendorf, Noah Hendricks, Qiang Sun, John Klinck, Tal Ezer, Thomas Frederikse, Francisco M. Calafat, Thomas Wahl, Torbjörn E. Törnqvist

CCPO Publications

While there is evidence for an acceleration in global mean sea level (MSL) since the 1960s, its detection at local levels has been hampered by the considerable influence of natural variability on the rate of MSL change. Here we report a MSL acceleration in tide gauge records along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf coasts that has led to rates (>10 mm yr⁻¹ since 2010) that are unprecedented in at least 120 years. We show that this acceleration is primarily induced by an ocean dynamic signal exceeding the externally forced response from historical climate model simulations. However, when the …

Dynamic Modeling Of Inland Flooding And Storm Surge On Coastal Cities Under Climate Change Scenarios: Transportation Infrastructure Impacts In Norfolk, Virginia Usa As A Case Study, Yawen Shen, Navid Tahvildari, Mohamed M. Morsy, Chris Huxley, T. Donna Chen, Jonathan Lee Goodall

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Low-lying coastal cities across the world are vulnerable to the combined impact of rainfall and storm tide. However, existing approaches lack the ability to model the combined effect of these flood mechanisms, especially under climate change and sea level rise (SLR). Thus, to increase flood resilience of coastal cities, modeling techniques to improve the understanding and prediction of the combined effect of these flood hazards are critical. To address this need, this study presents a modeling system for assessing the combined flood impact on coastal cities under selected future climate scenarios that leverages ocean modeling with land surface modeling capable …

Virginia Beach Flood Protection Program Bond Referendum Analysis, Robert Mcnab, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Afi Anuar, Jessica Whitehead

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[First paragraph of the Executive Summary]

On November 2, 2021, voters in the City of Virginia Beach will vote on a referendum that determines whether or not the City Council should increase real estate taxes to fund a Flood Protection Program. The proposal accelerates the construction of six flood mitigation projects already in the Virginia Beach Capital Improvement Plan by 3 years, and funds design and construction of 15 additional projects that would also be completed by 2031. This report, jointly produced by Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) and the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis …

Developing An Institutional Arrangement For A Whole-Of-Government And Whole-Of-Community Approach To Regional Adaptation To Sea Level Rise: The Hampton Roads Pilot Project, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, J. Gail Nicula, Burton St. John Iii, Meagan M. Jordan, Michelle Covi, Carol Considine, Marina Saitgalina, Joshua Behr

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Adaptation to sea level rise (SLR) requires coordination among local, state, and federal entities and collaboration across governments, nonprofits, businesses, and residents. This coordination and collaboration are reflected in institutional arrangements associated with a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach to regional adaptation. This study analyzes the development of an interlocal agreement (ILA), the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project (the Pilot Project), as an example of such an arrangement. This study assesses how factors throughout three phases of ILA development (initiation, implementation, and execution) influence outcomes and effectiveness. Drawing upon participant observation, document analysis, survey …

The Role Of Traditional Knowledge In Coastal Adaptation Priorities: The Pamunkey Indian Reservation, Nicole S. Hutton, Thomas R. Allen

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Coastal reservations are increasingly vulnerable to hazards exacerbated by climate change. Resources for restoration projects are limited. Storm surge, storms, tidal flooding, and erosion endanger artifacts and limit livelihoods of tribes in coastal Virginia. GIS offers a platform to increase communication between scientists, planners, and indigenous groups. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe engaged in a participatory mapping exercise to assess the role of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in coastal management decision-making and its capacity to address flooding. Priorities and strategies were spatially referenced using maps of potential sea level rise for 2040, 2060, and 2080, input into a resilience matrix to …

The Sea Will Rise, Barbuda Will Survive: Environment And Time Consciousness, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

In this article, we examine the link between environmental consciousnesses and time consciousness. We argue that the way people think about time shapes their experience of climate change threats. We contrast western hegemonic concepts of time—the Gregorian Calendar, the Dooms Day Clock, linear time—with the way Barbudans of Antigua and Barbuda, an island nation in the Caribbean experience time—cyclical, through boom and bust cycles. We found that this boom and bust framework was indeed supported by climate change and weather experiences on the island—hurricanes, droughts, changes in the lagoons—as well as economic experiences—cargo boat delays bringing supplies, paycheck delays. By …

Sea Level Rise Impact Assessment Tool – A Web-Based Application For Community Resilience In Coral Gables, Florida, Levente Juhasz, Hartwig H. Hochmair, Sheyla Aguilar De Santana, Zhaohui J. Fu

GIS Center

No abstract provided.

Sea Level Rise, Homeownership, And Residential Real Estate Markets In South Florida, Xinyu Fu, Jan Nijman

USI Publications

This article builds on a small but rapidly growing body of research that seeks to determine the impact of sea-level rise on the pricing of residential properties. Through a spatial hedonic regression analysis of real estate markets in two Florida counties (Miami–Dade and Pinellas), we assess the influence of different exposure levels on market discounts. Our article stands out in terms of its focus on two comparative case studies and its differentiation between properties that are primary homes versus nonprimary homes. We find that generally discounts are positively associated with exposure levels and overall Miami–Dade experiences higher discounts than Pinellas …

On Environmental, Climate Change & National Security Law, Mark P. Nevitt

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article offers a new way to think about climate change. Two new climate change assessments — the 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel’s Special Report on Climate Change — prominently highlight climate change’s multifaceted national security risks. Indeed, not only is climate change a “super wicked” environmental problem, it also accelerates existing national security threats, acting as both a “threat accelerant” and “catalyst for conflict.” Further, climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events while threatening nations’ territorial integrity and sovereignty through rising sea levels. It causes both internal displacement …

Connecticut Waterfront Property Premium In Areas With Flood Risk, Conor O'Donnell

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper investigates the premium paid for waterfront property along the Connecticut shoreline and how that premium is affected by its vulnerability to coastal flooding as measured by its location relative to the FEMA 100-year and 500-year flood zones. The primary analysis is a comparison of the rate of appreciation of properties within each flood zone relative to coastal properties outside the flood-zone. An analysis of the impact of Super Storm Sandy in 2012 on the appreciation rate is also presented. It is hypothesized that the rate of appreciation of properties within the 100-year flood zone is lower following Hurricane …

Fostering University Collaboration And Building Capacity To Respond To Coastal Resilience Challenges In Virginia: Findings From The Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Spring 2019, Wie Yusuf, Michelle Covi, Anamaria Bukvic, Tom Allen, Taiwo Oguntuyo

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[from Background and Overview]

Communities in coastal Virginia, particularly in the urban region of Hampton Roads and the rural Eastern Shore peninsula, are experiencing the impacts of climate change as part of everyday life. Among the most apparent impacts are sea level rise and associated flooding, but increasingly residents of the region are observing changing ecosystems, health impacts and complex social challenges are made more difficult. The region is experiencing the fastest rate of relative sea level rise on the U.S. east coast due to interactions between ocean currents, global sea level rise, high-water tables and ground subsidence (Adapt Virginia …

Archaeology And Climate Change: Sites At Risk Of Sea Level Rise In The Puget Sound, Christy Lynn Berg

2019 Symposium

The Puget Sound Watershed, located along Washington’s Northwest coast, contains 5,467 recorded archaeological sites. 1,290 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The majority of these sites are located along the coastline and associated waterways making them highly susceptible to climate change induced sea level rise. This research uses data provided from The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the susceptibility of thousands of sites to rising sea-levels. A mosaic of 10m resolution digital elevation models (DEMS) was created for the Puget Sound Watershed and elevation …

La Safe – Louisiana’S Strategic Adaptations For Future Environments: The Collective Search For Common Ground, The University Of New Orleans Center For Hazards Assessment, Response & Technology

CHART Publications

In coastal Louisiana, subsidence and sea level rise, plus the threat of hurricanes and flooding, combine to create one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise in the world (Penland & Ramsey, 1990). To help address these issues, the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Rockefeller Foundation, awarded funding for LA SAFE – Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments. The LA SAFE program, a partnership between the Office of Community Development (OCD) and the Foundation for Louisiana (FFL), supported an inclusive public process to identify adaptation …

The 'New Normal' Of Flooding In Portsmouth, Virginia: Perspectives, Experiences, And Adaptive Responses Of Residents And Business Owners In Low To Moderate-Income Communities, Donta Council, Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf, Joshua Behr, Makayla Brown, Old Dominion University Resilience Collaborative, Virginia Sea Grant

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[First three paragraphs from the Summary]

This project is a part of a broader initiative - the Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) - that addresses the daunting challenges coastal communities are facing related to sea level rise and climate change (more information about RAFT is available here: https://ien.virginia.edu/raft).

This aim of this project was to investigate how residents and business owners in low-to-moderate income communities in Portsmouth, Virginia cope with flooding, and to assess implications for how the local government can better engage with residents to better meet their information needs so they can be more resilient to flooding. The …

Governance For A Changing Climate: Adapting Boston’S Built Environment For Increased Flooding, Stephanie Kruel, Rebecca Herst, David Cash

School for the Environment Publications

Climate Change is impacting everything in our society and in our world. The changes we are already experiencing are starting to multiply and accelerate. Determining how to respond to this new reality wisely within the governance and governmental structures that we have built is a complex challenge. Some might argue it is humankind’s greatest test. Given the monumental size of this task, it is difficult to simultaneously address all of the related issues both broadly and deeply. This is the third and final in a series of reports from the Sustainable Solutions Lab that were sponsored by the Boston Green …

Flood Resilience Community Outreach Using The Asert Framework, Michelle Covi, Wie Yusuf, Carol Considine, Gail Nicula, Afi Anuar, Makayla Brown

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

Report on a program for public engagement meetings using the ASERT (Action-oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow) framework to solicit resident input into the City of Virginia Beach’s Comprehensive Sea Level Rise and Recurrent Flooding Analysis and Planning Study. A series of community meetings from December 2017-January 2018 took the form of a “Flood Resilience Game Night” with five stations in which residents could participate in activities to earn stamps on a game card.

Marine Research In Focus: Counteracting The ‘Myth Of Dry Feet’ In Dutch Planning For Flood Defense, Kristen Grant

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Coastal residents and towns need strategies to address climate change and its effects on sea-level rise, shoreline erosion, and coastal flooding. Extreme weather events can cause millions of dollars in damage and threaten coastal ecosystems and local economies. The Building a Resilient Coast project seeks to provide stakeholders with easy access to information to facilitate planning for climate and hazards impacts.

Estimating Recent Local Impacts Of Sea‑Level Rise On Current Real‑Estate Losses: A Housing Market Case Study In Miami‑Dade, Florida, Steven A. Mcalpine, Jeremy R. Porter

Publications and Research

Sea-Level Rise (SLR) Projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) indicate increasing, and imminent, risk to coastal communities from tidal flooding and hurricane storm surge. Building on recent research related to the potential demographic impacts of such changes (Hauer et al. 2016, in Nat Clim Chang 3:802–806, 2017; Neumann et al. 2015; Curtis and Schneider in Popul Environ 33:28–54, 2011), localized flooding projections in the Miami Beach area (Wdowinski et al. in Ocean Coast Manag 126:1–8, 2016) and projected economic losses associated with this rise in projected SLR (Fu et …

Assessing Land Deformation And Sea Encroachment In The Nile Delta, Egypt, Esayas Gebremichael

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Persistent scatterer interferometric analyses were conducted on a stack of 84 Envisat ASAR scenes spanning 7 years (2004 to 2010) over the entire Nile Delta of Egypt and surroundings to monitor the ongoing spatial and temporal land deformation, identify the factors controlling the deformation, and model the interplay between sea level rise and land subsidence to identify areas and populations threatened by sea encroachment by the end of the 21st century. Findings include: (1) general patterns of subsidence in the northern delta, near-steady (none) subsidence in the southern delta, separated by a previously mapped flexure zone undergoing uplift; (2) high …

The Impact Of Salinity On Mycorrhizal Colonization Of A Rare Legume, Galactia Smallii, In South Florida Pine Rocklands, Klara Scharnagl, Vanessa Sanchez, Eric Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Objectives: The success of restoration plantings depends on the capacity of transplanted individuals or seeds to establish and reproduce. It is increasingly recognized that restoration success depends quite heavily upon biotic interactions and belowground processes. Under stressful abiotic conditions, such as soils salinized by storm surge and sea level rise, symbiotic interactions with soil microbes such as mycorrhizae may be critically important. In this study, we investigate the impact of salinity on percent colonization of roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, in addition to the impacts of this colonization on plant fitness under saline conditions. Fifty Galactia smallii plants from an …

An Intergovernmental Blueprint For Community Resiliency: The Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness And Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Project, Ray Toll

ODU Articles

This special Marine Technology Society (MTS) Journal issue on resilience features authors presenting various perspectives on the challenges and solutions that we all must face. Many of these perspectives are a follow-up to the recommendations from a 2014–2016 pilot run by Old Dominion University (ODU) that used a whole-of-government/community approach to an integrated regional solution in Hampton Roads. An intergovernmental blueprint for community resiliency, The Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Project (convened by ODU and launched in June 2014 with MTS), was one of the three White House National Security Council pilots and one of …

Institutionalizing Resilience In Us Universities: Prospects, Opportunities, And Models, Morris Foster, James O'Donnell, Mark Luckenbach, Elizabeth Andrews, Emily Steinhilber, John Wells, Mark Davis

ODU Articles

[From Introduction]

The United States is taking a largely region-specific approach to addressing challenges posed by climate change, in contrast with national and international approaches in most of the rest of the world. In locations such as Hampton Roads, New Orleans, and coastal Connecticut, the impacts of climate change tend to be addressed as they become locally evident rather than as part of a larger anticipatory national plan. Given that regional focus, universities can play a unique role in how the United States responds to the challenges of a changing climate. Universities can be knowledge brokers positioned outside or across …

Key Priorities And University Roles To Address Coastal Resilience In Virginia: Findings From The Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Fall 2018, Anamaria Bukvic, Michelle Covi

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

From Part 1. Purpose and significance

The first Rotating Resilience Roundtables event took place on October 11 and 12, 2018 on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg and was co-organized between the Coastal@VT initiative at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University/Virginia Sea Grant Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program. It was designed to respond to the need for a cohesive and policy-relevant science that will align and coordinate efforts between researchers and other stakeholders to benefit the Commonwealth’s resilience planning for changing conditions in coastal zone. The Rotating Roundtables’ concept was selected to facilitate active engagement of audiences with different coastal …

Urban Areas In Coastal Zones, Richard C. Dawson, M. Shah Alam Khan, Vivien Gornitz, Maria Fernanda Lemos, Larry Atkinson, Julie Pullen, Juan Camilo Osorio, Lindsay Usher, Cynthia Rosenzweig (Ed.), William Solecki (Ed.), Patricia Romero-Lankao (Ed.), Shagun Mehrotra (Ed.), Shobhakar Dhakal (Ed.), Somayya Ali Ibrahim (Ed.)

CCPO Publications

[First Paragraph] Coastal cities have been subjected to extreme weather events since the onset of urbanization. Climatic change, in particular sea level rise, coupled with rapid urban development are amplifying the challenge of managing risks to coastal cities. Moreover, urban expansion and changes and intensification in land use further pressure sensitive coastal environments through pollution and habitat loss.