Enhancing the Resilience of Coasts and Oceans through Climate Services

As coastal nations, Japan and the United States share a deep and abiding respect for the beauty, the bounty, and the power of the oceans. Our countries understand the interdependence of healthy oceans and healthy communities and economies. In addition to overfishing, global climate change presents a major threat to our coasts and oceans. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is developing climate information, tools, and services that enhance society’s ability to prepare for change. Creative solutions, public awareness, and strong international partnerships will be required to ensure the harmony of the ocean environment for generations to come.

Climate impacts on oceans and coasts

The oceans are changing rapidly and radically, with profound consequences for humanity. Global sea surface temperatures are rising, leading to coral bleaching, shifting fish ranges, and increases in invasive species. The oceans are becoming more acidic as they absorb the growing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide generated by human activity. This has particularly severe consequences for calcifying species, including shellfish, corals, and many plankton that serve as critical food sources for ocean life. Sea level rise threatens low-lying coastal communities and habitats. Some extreme events, such as typhoons, interact with sea level rise to pose greater threats to loss of life and property. Many extreme events are on the rise. In 2011, as of December 1st, the U.S. had already experienced a record number of 12 separate weather- and climate-related disasters that each total at least $1 billion in damages. The damages from two additional events are still being assessed, but in each case, could also exceed $1 billion. In total, these events have resulted in over $50 billion in economic impacts. A recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that climate change is already altering the frequency and intensity of some extreme weather and climate events, and we can expect a growing number of these events in the future.

These impacts are leading people around the world to seek information that helps them prepare for change. Future economic growth and sustainable use of natural resources require smart choices based on the best information about likely conditions of tomorrow, not yesterday or today. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides weather and climate information and services that enable informed planning. Demands for such information are increasing. From 2009 to 2010, NOAA experienced a 57% increase in climate-related data and information website hits and an 86% increase in climate-related data provided from the agency’s data centers to numerous users.

NOAA’s Climate Services

To meet the growing demand for information, NOAA works with a diversity of coastal and oceanic sectors to provide timely climate science and services that inform their daily decisions. Below, we highlight four examples of services that NOAA has developed to enhance the integration of climate information into policy and management actions.

1. NOAA’s Coastal Services Center launched the “Digital Coast?Einitiative (Fig. 1) to address timely coastal issues, including climate change. One of Digital Coast’s tools, the Sea Level Rise Impacts Viewer (http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slrviewer/), creates visualizations of the potential physical, ecological, and socioeconomic impacts of sea level rise in order to inform the planning efforts of community officials and coastal managers. These tools are currently serving as the basis of a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to better understand and prepare for the potential impacts of sea level rise on vulnerable populations, infrastructure, and ecosystems in Galveston, Texas. Digital Coast empowers local decision makers and citizens to understand, and take action to reduce, the impacts of climate change and other stressors on their coasts.
2. Coral reefs are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to the impacts of climate change (Fig. 2). The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program developed the Coral Reef Watch Satellite Bleaching Alert System (http://coralreefwatch-satops.noaa.gov/SBA.html), which uses near real-time global satellite data to monitor the status of thermal stress that can lead to coral bleaching. Coral reef managers, scientists, and other interested parties are automatically alerted by e-mail if a bleaching event is likely. The alerts are currently available for 24 coral reef ecosystems around the world.
3. NOAA’s climate science and services support sustainable management of fisheries. For example, NOAA’s North Pacific Climate Regimes and Ecosystem Productivity project (NPCREP; http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/foci/NPCREP/) collects information on climate impacts in North Pacific and Bering Sea ecosystems to develop guidance for fisheries managers. From 2000 ?E2005, NPCREP documented high sea surface temperatures, coinciding with low pollock recruitment in the Bering Sea. Incorporating these data into stock assessment models yielded projections indicating the possibility of prolonged declines. NPCREP reported these findings to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Science and Statistical Committee. In turn, the Fishery Management Council adopted the Committee’s recommendation to temporarily reduce the pollock quotas from 1.6 to 0.8 million tons (50% decrease) in increments between 2006 and 2010. By 2011, climate, ocean, and recruitment patterns had begun to shift again, and the recommendation to the Council was to increase the pollock harvest to 1.27 million tons based on the strength of the 2006 year class. This example of effective adaptive management illustrates the importance of communicating climate information to support decision-making.
4. At NOAA, we work not just to provide climate information for others ?Ebut also to incorporate climate into our own stewardship and management responsibilities. For example, NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary System (http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/), which manages 14 valuable marine protected areas in the United States, is undertaking an initiative to make their sites “Climate-Smart.?E Through this effort, Sanctuaries are developing site-level climate scenarios and impact reports, as well as climate change action plans. In addition, the sites are creating strategies for reducing their carbon footprint through “greening?Etheir operations. We recognize the importance of leading by example to enhance the resilience of coasts and oceans to climate change.

Fig. 1. Images of the historical Charleston Battery in South Carolina, U.S.A. showing present-day conditions (upper panel) in contrast to a simulated sea level rise (lower panel) of 1.5m above Mean High Water. Simulation created using a tool (CanVis) from NOAA’s Digital Coast (http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/canvis/).

Fig. 2. NOAA diver surveys a bleached coral colony in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands in October 2005 (photo: NOAA).

The importance of international partnerships

The successful development and delivery of climate services depends on sustained international partnerships and collaborations among climate service providers and end users. The emerging Global Framework for Climate Services provides an unprecedented opportunity to advance global capabilities for managing climate risks. The United States supports the development of this Framework, and we look forward to collaborating with the international community to share information and lessons learned.

Our long-standing partnerships with Japan on observations, modeling, and research have been, and will continue to be, critical to sustaining the information and services so vital to predicting and managing for extreme events and climate change. For example, in August 2011, NOAA came together with Japan and other nations for the Pacific Regional Meteorological Service Directors Training Workshop held in the Marshall Islands. During this event, countries shared climate information and needs, promoted opportunities for expert and practitioner partnerships, and identified mechanisms for incorporating science into climate adaptation actions.

Healthy, productive, resilient oceans are possible with collective and concerted efforts. Only by coming together as a global community, with a sense of purpose, urgency, and hope, can we achieve the goal of a more sustainable future for our coasts and oceans.