Volume 51, August 2015, Pages 137–148
Open Access
Highlights
- •
- Natural infrastructure (healthy ecosystems) provides many benefits to society.
- •
- Innovative hybrid infrastructure approaches combine natural and built features.
- •
- Natural and hybrid approaches provide important coastal risk reduction.
- •
- Now is the time to incorporate natural and hybrid approaches into coastal planning.
- •
- These approaches are key to increasing coastal resilience to climate change.
Abstract
There
is substantial evidence that natural infrastructure (i.e., healthy
ecosystems) and combinations of natural and built infrastructure
(“hybrid” approaches) enhance coastal resilience by providing important
storm and coastal flooding protection, while also providing other
benefits. There is growing interest in the U.S., as well as around the
world, to use natural infrastructure to help coastal communities become
more resilient to extreme events and reduce the risk of coastal
flooding. Here we highlight strengths and weaknesses of the coastal
protection benefits provided by built infrastructure, natural
ecosystems, and the innovative opportunities to combine the two into
hybrid approaches for coastal protection. We also examine some case
studies where hybrid approaches are being implemented to improve coastal
resilience as well as some of the policy challenges that can make
implementation of these approaches more difficult. The case studies we
examine are largely in the U.S. but also include a couple of
international examples as well. Based on this analysis, we conclude that
coastal communities and other decision makers need better information
in order to incorporate ecosystem protection and restoration into
coastal resilience planning efforts. As additional projects are
developed, it is important to capitalize on every opportunity to learn
more about the cost of natural and hybrid infrastructure projects, the
value of the storm and erosion protection benefits provided, and the
full suite of co-benefits provided by healthy coastal ecosystems. We
highlight top priorities for research, investment in, and application of
natural and hybrid approaches. These data are critical to facilitate
adoption of these approaches in planning and decision-making at all
levels to enhance the resilience of our coasts.
Keywords
- Ecosystem services;
- Storm protection;
- Coastal flooding;
- Storm surge;
- Community resilience
1. Introduction
Coastal flooding due to extreme weather events and sea level rise is of growing global concern (IPCC Working Group II, 2014), and increasing coastal resilience to these threats is a priority for many countries and a global need (Barbier, 2014).
The United States is no exception. In the U.S., in 2012, there were 11
weather and climate disaster events across the United States, including
Hurricane Sandy. Nationally, these disaster events cumulatively caused
377 deaths and over $110 billion in damages. This makes 2012 the second
costliest year on record in the U.S., ranking only behind 2005, which
incurred $160 billion in damages due in part to four devastating coastal
hurricanes (National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), 2013).
In the wake of these major hurricanes and in the face of increasing
chronic risks such as coastal flooding due to sea level rise (Shepard et al., 2012),
the resilience of U.S. coastlines has emerged as a major socioeconomic
and environmental concern for the federal government. For example,
community resilience is specifically called out in the President's
Executive Order 13653, “Preparing the United States for the Impacts of
Climate Change” (The White House, 2013).
In this Executive Order resilience is defined as “the ability to
anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand,
respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions,” and building
community resilience is a specific goal of the Executive Order actions.
At the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
resilience fundamentally is thought to have at its core three
components, or pillars – society, economy, and environment – that must
all be healthy and robust for a community to be resilient (NOAA, 2010). Thus, the important role that coastal ecosystems can play in increasing coastal resilience is of growing interest.
