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MEMORANDUM

To: Aaron Schab
From: Mark Macedo
Date: February 16, 2014
Subject: Technical Definition and Description


This memo explains the targeted audience, problem, placement, and visuals used to compose my
extended technical definition and developed technical description. The topic of these is coastal
impact zones associated with climate change in the United States.

Audience

The audience for defining and describing climate coastal impact zones includes members of city
councils, urban/planning development committees, and citizens in coastal cities. The level of
education will vary, however I have written the definition and description to a lesser level of
technical proficiency.

Problem/Purpose

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, coastal ecosystems are dynamic,
spatially constrained, and attractive for development, which leads to an increase in multiple
stresses under the current conditions resulting in significant degradation and losses, especially
economically. Trends in human development along coasts amplify their vulnerability. Climate
change and sea-level rise increase the challenge of achieving sustainable development by
reversing loss of environmental resources, and improving lives of slum dwellers in these regions.
Adapting effectively to climate change and sea-level rise will involve substantial investment.
Long-term sea-level rise projections mean that risks will continue to grow for many generations
unless there is substantial and ongoing investment in adaptation. Therefore, sustainability for
coastal areas will require a combination of adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Placement

The placement for the definition and description is in a report posted by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change located at https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-
wg2-chapter6.pdf

The extended technical definition placed at the beginning of the paper.

The developed technical description would follow the definition.

Choice of Visuals

I included a sea level rise map of Charleston, South Carolina to visualize the threat of sea level
rise and coastal flooding in cities.
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Technical Definition: Coastal Impact Zones Associated with Climate Change

Coastal ecosystems are dynamic and experiencing adverse effects of hazards related to climate
change and sea level rise. The impact of climate change on coasts is exacerbated by increasing
human caused pressures such as greenhouse gas emissions. Adaption costs for vulnerable coasts
are much less than the costs of inaction. The unavoidability of sea-level rise, even in the longer-
term, frequently conflict with current-day human development patterns and trends.

Climate Change
The change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid to late 20
th
century onwards,
attributed largely to the inceased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of
fossil fuels.

Coastal Impact Zones
Areas threathened by the adverse effects associated with climate change such as sea-level rise
and storm surge.

Climate Hazards
A hazard that is physically defined climate even with the potential to cause harm, such as heavy
rainfall, drought, storm, or long-term change in climatic variable such as temperature and
precipitation.

Mitigation
The act of lessening the force or intensity of a hazard associated with climate change.

Adaptation
A form or structure modified to fit a changed environment.

Vulnerability
Vulnerability is the degree to which geophysical, biological, and socio-economic systems are
susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse impacts of climate change.

Sea Level Rise
The mean sea level (between high and low tide) is increasing in elevation creating difficulties for
low-lying coastal cities.

Storm Surge
A rising of the sea because of atmospheric pressure changes and wind associated with a storm.

Thermal Expansion
Thermal expansion is the tendency of water to increase in volume due to an increase in ocean
temperatures.

IPCC
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body, set up at the
request of member governments.
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Technical Description: Coastal Impact Zone associated with Climate Change

During the twentieth century, global sea level has risen by approximately seven inches. The
United States coastlines are highly populated and there is a vast amount of economic activity
such as transportation, energy drilling, resource extraction, fish cultivation, and recreation vital
to the nations economy. Climate change
could affect coastal areas in a number of
ways. Coasts are particularly vulnerable to
sea-level rise, changes in the frequency and
intensity of storms increases in
precipitation, and warmer ocean
temperatures. Rising atmospheric
concentrations of carbon emissions are
causing oceans to absorb more gas and
becoming more acidic. This rising acidity
could have very important impacts on
coastal and marine ecosystems, thus the
industry and economy. Impacts associated with climate change are likely to get worse in the
decades to come. Shoreline erosion, coastal flooding, and water pollution could have an adverse
affect on coastal infrastructure. To address the affects of climate change it will reqire new
methods for managing lands, waste, water, and ecosystems.

Sea-Level Rise. Climate change models project that global sea-level rise will accelerate in the
twenty-first century. Models based on thermal expansion and ice melt estimate that global sea
levels would rise about twenty to thirty-nine inches by the end of the twenty-first century.
Conversely, due to uncertainties about the response of ice sheets to warmer temperatures and
increased amounts of greenhouse gases higher values are possible and are a considerable factor.
Growing populations and development along the U.S. coasts increase vulnerability of coastal
ecosystems to sea level rise. Rising sea levels could increase the salinity of ground water and
push salt water further upstream into tributaries.

Storm Surge and Precipitation. Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to increases in the
intensity of storm surge and heavy precipitation. Storm surge is already an issue low-lying areas,
damage property, disrupt transportation systems, destroy habitat, and threaten human health and
safety. Sea level rise could increase the impacts of storms by raising the water levels that storm
surge affects. Climate change will likely result in heavy rainfall and increased precipitation to
some coastal regions. This may lead to increases in runoff and flooding. In addition, the warmer
temperatures in mountain areas may lead to an increased spring runoff. The spring runoff may
also threaten the health and quality of coastal water due to pollutants associated with agricultural
fertilizers.

Warmer Water Temperatures. Coastal waters have warmed during the last and it is very
likely they will continue to do so. This warming could trigger dramatic changes in coastal
ecosystems, resulting in a disruption of local economies. Warming waters may cause habitat
shifts in certain temperature sensitive species. This will inevitably affect local economies and
global markets.