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SandBar 8:1, April, 2009 Sea Grant Publication Addresses Development Practices Along Gulf Coast Coastal cities face multiple challenges, including violent storms, flooding, and erosion. In addition to these challenges, coastal cities are densely populated, as they play vital parts in trade, fishing, and tourism industries. The challenges facing the coast are magnified by the implications of climate change, such as the possibility for more frequent and more intense storms, higher sea levels, and more coastal erosion. To examine legal and policy issues that might come into play as a result of climate change, Texas Sea Grant and the National Sea Grant Law Center have collaborated to publish “The Resilient Coast: Policy Frameworks for Adapting the Built Environment to Climate Change and Growth in Coastal Areas of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.” The publication examines legal and policy frameworks that could affect adaptation to global climate change and population growth along the Gulf Coast. The publication also offers recommendations for im proved planning and mitigation practices. The Resilient Coast outlines existing federal, state, and local frameworks in place to manage development on the coast. Next, it examines adaptation to climate change and population growth, including mitigation and response practices that may be used by coastal communities to handle both current hazards and those that may occur as a result of climate change. The authors note that Hurricane Katrina provided valuable lessons for disaster response, including the need to encourage more intergovernmental cooperation. The Resilient Coast also addresses the role of integrated coastal zone management in adaptation to climate change and growth, the question of urban resiliency, and the question of who should bear the burden of risk for development in these areas. The publication is available online at http://www.urban-nature.org/publications/ publications.htm . Report Examines Impact of Sea Level Rise on Mid-Atlantic Region A recently released report, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region, explores the impacts of sea-level rise on the coastal landscape, communities, and habitats of the mid-Atlantic region. The report, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, examines various ways governments and coastal communities may plan for and adapt to rising sea levels. The report was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Through scientific literature and policy documents, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise examines not only the effects of sea level rise, but also the impacts on society and opportunities to prepare for those consequences. The report finds that the effects of sea level rise, including erosion, wetland conversion, and increased flooding, will be increased if the rate of sea-level rise accelerates. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise examines prospective ways natural and social science research may improve comprehension of potential impacts of sea-level rise and society's ability to respond. The report looks at opportunities for adaptation, as well as institutional barriers to adaptation. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise outlines the current coastal policy context in the mid-Atlantic region and describes the implications for the other regions of the U.S. The report concludes that preparing for sea-level rise now can reduce future environmental and economic impacts of sea level rise. The report is available at http://www.epa. - gov/climatechange/effects/coastal/sap4-1.html . Study Estimates Commercial Ship Emissions A new study provides a comprehensive estimate of maritime shipping’s contribution to air particle pollution based on direct measurements of emissions. The study found that world-wide, commercial ships emit almost half as much particulate matter pollutants into the air as the total amount released by the world’s cars. Researchers conducting the study noted that ship pollutants have an immense impact on coastal air quality and the health of people living along coastlines, given that 70% of shipping traffic takes place within 250 miles of the coastline. Researchers from NOAA and the University of Colorado at Boulder conducted the study aboard the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, analyzing the exhaust from more than 200 commercial vessels, including cargo ships, tankers and cruise ships, in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Bay, and the Houston Ship Channel. The authors concluded that ships emit about 2.2 million pounds of particle pollution each year. The researchers also examined the chemistry of particles in ship. The authors found that sulfate emissions from ships, which make up just under half of shipping's total particle emissions, vary with the concentration of sulfur in ship fuel. Organic pollutants and sooty, black carbon make up the other half of emissions. The study appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research. More information is available at http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090226_shipping.html .
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SandBar 8:1, April, 2009

Sea Grant Publication Addresses Development Practices Along Gulf Coast

Coastal cities face multiple challenges, including violent storms, flooding, and erosion. In addition to these challenges, coastal cities are densely populated, as they play vital parts in trade, fishing, and tourism industries. The challenges facing the coast are magnified by the implications of climate change, such as the possibility for more frequent and more intense storms, higher sea levels, and more coastal erosion.
      To examine legal and policy issues that might come into play as a result of climate change, Texas Sea Grant and the National Sea Grant Law Center have collaborated to publish “The Resilient Coast: Policy Frameworks for Adapting the Built Environment to Climate Change and Growth in Coastal Areas of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.”
      The publication examines legal and policy frameworks that could affect adaptation to global climate change and population growth along the Gulf Coast. The publication also offers recommendations for im proved planning and mitigation practices.
      The Resilient Coast outlines existing federal, state, and local frameworks in place to manage development on the coast. Next, it examines adaptation to climate change and population growth, including mitigation and response practices that may be used by coastal communities to handle both current hazards and those that may occur as a result of climate change. The authors note that Hurricane Katrina provided valuable lessons for disaster response, including the need to encourage more intergovernmental cooperation. The Resilient Coast also addresses the role of integrated coastal zone management in adaptation to climate change and growth, the question of urban resiliency, and the question of who should bear the burden of risk for development in these areas.

The publication is available online at http://www.urban-nature.org/publications/ publications.htm .

Report Examines Impact of Sea Level Rise on Mid-Atlantic Region

A recently released report, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region, explores the impacts of sea-level rise on the coastal landscape, communities, and habitats of the mid-Atlantic region. The report, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, examines various ways governments and coastal communities may plan for and adapt to rising sea levels. The report was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
Through scientific literature and policy documents, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise examines not only the effects of sea level rise, but also the impacts on society and opportunities to prepare for those consequences. The report finds that the effects of sea level rise, including erosion, wetland conversion, and increased flooding, will be increased if the rate of sea-level rise accelerates. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise examines prospective ways natural and social science research may improve comprehension of potential impacts of sea-level rise and society's ability to respond. The report looks at opportunities for adaptation, as well as institutional barriers to adaptation. Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise outlines the current coastal policy context in the mid-Atlantic region and describes the implications for the other regions of the U.S. The report concludes that preparing for sea-level rise now can reduce future environmental and economic impacts of sea level rise.
The report is available at http://www.epa. - gov/climatechange/effects/coastal/sap4-1.html .

Study Estimates Commercial Ship Emissions

A new study provides a comprehensive estimate of maritime shipping’s contribution to air particle pollution based on direct measurements of emissions. The study found that world-wide, commercial ships emit almost half as much particulate matter pollutants into the air as the total amount released by the world’s cars. Researchers conducting the study noted that ship pollutants have an immense impact on coastal air quality and the health of people living along coastlines, given that 70% of shipping traffic takes place within 250 miles of the coastline.
      Researchers from NOAA and the University of Colorado at Boulder conducted the study aboard the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, analyzing the exhaust from more than 200 commercial vessels, including cargo ships, tankers and cruise ships, in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Bay, and the Houston Ship Channel. The authors concluded that ships emit about 2.2 million pounds of particle pollution each year.
      The researchers also examined the chemistry of particles in ship. The authors found that sulfate emissions from ships, which make up just under half of shipping's total particle emissions, vary with the concentration of sulfur in ship fuel. Organic pollutants and sooty, black carbon make up the other half of emissions.
   The study appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research. More information is available at
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090226_shipping.html .