New classification of the world’s coastlines to improve climate action

Business Announcement

COASTAL HAZARD WHEEL INITIATIVE

 

IMAGE: THE COASTAL HAZARD WHEEL 3.0 CONSISTING OF SIX COASTAL CLASSIFICATION CIRCLES, FIVE HAZARD CIRCLES AND THE COASTAL CLASSIFICATION CODES. IT IS USED BY STARTING IN THE WHEEL CENTRE MOVING OUTWARDS THROUGH THE COASTAL CLASSIFICATION. view more 

CREDIT: ROSENDAHL APPELQUIST 2016; 2013. HTTPS://WWW.COASTALHAZARDWHEEL.ORG/

Copenhagen, 31st August 2022

A new classification of the world’s coastlines has been released to improve coastal climate change adaptation at local, regional and national level and strengthen coordinated climate action worldwide. The classification builds on the Coastal Hazard Wheel that is a universal coastal management framework and is developed by the Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative involving Deltares, the UN Environment Programme-DHI Centre (UNEP-DHI Centre) and the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, with contributions from University of Copenhagen, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The new global coastal classification can be used by public authorities, planners and researchers to determine the key characteristics of a specific coastal location, identify relevant adaptation measures and map the full spectrum of coastal hazards, including ecosystem disruption, gradual inundation, salt water intrusion, erosion and flooding, from local to global level.

The classification makes use of the latest global geodata from remote sensing, on-site observations and modelling. It thereby provides coastal classification, hazard information and adaptation guidance for coastal stretches down to about 200 meters. The global coastal classification and adaptation guidance is made freely available as a web-application, the Coastal Hazard Wheel App, which is available via www.coastalhazardwheel.org through regular web browsers.

“With close to two billion people now living in coastal areas worldwide, timely and appropriate adaptation action is critical” says Dr Lars Rosendahl Appelquist, Head of the Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative. “The new global coastal classification and adaptation guidance can help public authorities and planners with identifying relevant management measures and can facilitate integrated coastal management and communication worldwide”.

Building proper resilience and reducing disaster risk in coastal areas is a major global challenge and particularly urgent for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). FAO and the Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative are therefore working together to test and further develop the new global coastal classification system in its efforts to support SIDS and other coastal countries with adaptation through healthy coastal ecosystems and resilient communities.

The new global coastal classification can improve and broaden the awareness and understanding of coastal challenges and the impacts of climate change. Moreover, the classification can support multi-stakeholder processes from local to global level as well as investment plans to address bottlenecks and needs. Furthermore, the classification and coastal coding system can be used as a common coastal language to facilitate communication between local, regional and national authorities, policy-makers, international organisations, researchers and practitioners.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative

The Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative is an international partnership with the aim of providing a detailed open access classification of the world’s coastlines and automated climate change adaptation guidance with increasing accuracy. More information can be found at www.coastalhazardwheel.org

 

About the Coastal Hazard Wheel

The Coastal Hazard Wheel methodology is a universal coastal classification and management framework to address all the main coastal challenges simultaneously. It can be used as a complete coastal language and aims to boost climate change adaptation and bridge the gap between scientists, policy-makers and the general public.

 

For more information, please contact the Coastal Hazard Wheel initiative at lra@coastalhazardwheel.org

DOE announces $70 million to improve supercomputer model of earth's climate system

National labs and university research aims to further scientists’ understanding of climate change

Grant and Award Announcement

DOE/US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $70 million in funding for seven projects that will improve climate prediction and aid in the fight against climate change. The research will be used to accelerate development of DOE’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), enabling scientific discovery through collaborations between climate scientists, computer scientists, and applied mathematicians. Data from this model will enhance scientists’ understanding of climate change, which will be crucial to furthering President Biden’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad. 

“Being able to understand and predict what is happening in a system as complex as planet Earth is crucial to finding solutions to climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The projects announced today will give university and National Lab researchers deep insight into our oceans, our air, and our climate and into how emissions are impacting the world around us right now and in the future.”

The projects will be led by researchers at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as well as the University of New Mexico.

E3SM is an ultra-high-resolution model of Earth that is run on exascale supercomputers—digital computers like the Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are millions of times more powerful than modern personal computers. The model is constantly being improved to provide the best simulation and prediction possible to researchers in Earth system science.

The projects announced today will improve the E3SM by, for example, advancing simulations of ocean circulation in the Atlantic and developing a framework for modeling Antarctic systems.

The projects were selected through competitive peer review process under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing. Total funding is $70 million for projects lasting up to five years in duration, with $14 million in Fiscal Year 2022 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.

The list of projects and more information can be found here.