Most of California’s population and its largest airports are located along the Pacific coastline, which is increasingly impacted by storm surges, sea level rise, and erosion due to climate change.
Most of California’s population and its largest airports are located along the Pacific coastline, which is increasingly impacted by storm surges, sea level rise, and erosion due to climate change. In the next 30 years, sea level along the coast is expected to rise as much as 8 inches. All of this means more frequent and far-reaching flooding that will impact critical infrastructure like roads, power plants, and airports.
A new study by scientists at University of California – Berkeley, has found that 39 out of 43 coastal airports in California have assets exposed to projected flooding that could disrupt their operations in the next 20 to 40 years. Sarah Lindbergh of University of California, Berkeley, will present her team’s findings during the Society for Risk Analysis Annual Meeting, Dec. 4-8 in Tampa, Florida.
Lindbergh and her colleagues at UC Berkeley conducted a statewide assessment of California’s airport infrastructure exposure to projected coastal flooding (from storm surge and sea-level rise) up to the year 2100. Their research combines a novel coastal flooding exposure assessment of the airports with a policy review of more than 100 state legislature and planning documents to address the importance of collaborative climate adaptation.
The flooding exposure assessment is the first of its kind, using geospatial tools to look beyond each airport’s perimeter to include its entire interconnected infrastructure — including road access, ground-based navigation, and communications systems. “It’s important to recognize that critical assets for airport operations may lie outside airport boundaries,” explains Lindbergh.
Read more at Society for Risk Analysis
Photo Credit: Javaistan via Pixabay
