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Coastal Hazards
Long-term Recovery Planning SummitFlorida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina in conjunction with the Governors' South Atlantic Alliance will be hosting a Long-term Recovery Planning Summit in Jacksonville, Fl on July 10-11, 2012. The Summit is focused on State and local long-term recovery and planning efforts and is intended for emergency managers, planners,resource managers and elected officals. Click here to register onlineHotel Accommodations can be made through the Crown Plaza at 904-398-8800 or http://www.cpjacksonville.com/ Group rate is $80 + taxes and fees and should be booked under the block name (coming soon) Block rate ends June 18, 2012 See Agenda for more details and stay tuned for ADDITIONAL INFORMATION COMING SOON. The Earth's changing climate is one of coastal Georgia’s greatest environmental challenges. It is critical that preparations to adapt and reduce our vulnerabilities to the inevitable changes be initiated. Georgia’s coastal areas will be among the first to experience the effects of climate change. The region has already experienced rising sea levels that have increased 3mm/year over the past 70 years. During that time, rates of residential and infrastructure development along coastal Georgia’s waterways have increased significantly, resulting in more persons and property at risk. Five of the past 12 y Although coastal hazards is a fairly new issue area for the GCMP, there has been a significant shift in focus over the last two years. There has been a high demand from educators, researchers, local, state and federal governments for more data, information and planning.
The GCMP has established Specialty Areas of study, which were developed based on regional and national priorities. One Specialty Area that has been developed is Coastal Hazards including Climate Change/Sea-Level Rise in Coastal Georgia, which will address many of the needs in this category. Since this change, staff has submitted several grant applications for climate related projects, sits on several climate change steering committees at a local, state and national levels including the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance. The Coastal Incentive Grant program has helped the GCMP in funding coastal hazard grants that have increased our knowledge and resources. Some examples are as follows: · Planning for Sea-Level Rise · Coastal Hazards Portal · Plastics · Coastal Elevation Project Through partnerships with the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve and Georgia SeaGrant, the GCMP hosted a Preparing for Climate Change workshop for local governments, non-formal educators and NGO’s. The GCMP also partnered with the Coastal Services Center to make Savannah, GA a pilot project in kicking off the CSC’s Roadmap to Coastal Hazards workshop. For more information on Coastal Hazards, contact Jennifer Kline at 912-264-7218. |
ears has seen the region in major drought which was associated with decreased shrimp and crab landings, increased coastal salinity, salt marsh dieback and saltwater intrusion into drinking water systems. 
