PROJECTED WAVE CHARACTERISTICS AND SHORELINE MIGRATION DUE TO INCREASED SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE

Increasing sea surface temperature is a topic of great concern as one of the main contributing factors to projected wave height increase and shoreline migration. The compiling and modeling of wave characteristics using historical buoy data, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Buoy Center, can be used to foreshadow wave interaction with shorelines as a possible future peril to human utilization of the ocean. Parameterization and representation is expressed through general circulation models (GCM). Seasonal pressure variances and the calculated Ekman transport responses are evidential components of the looming threat upon shorelines and current wave activity. Excessive vertical and horizontal displacement of marine sedimentation could affect the current axial tilt, which in turn, will increase seasonal pressure variation. Locale-specific fetch is taken into consideration as the two locations of focus are affiliated to comparable sea surface area with regards to major wind patterns. The main data collection points lie upon the latitudinal plane of approximately 34° North; the two buoy locations are West Santa Barbara, California and Onslow Bay, North Carolina. As the dynamics of fluid mechanics are difficult to track in real time, modeling will replace and quantify the projected variables. As a function of sea surface temperature, thermal expansion is expressed in the thermal expansion coefficient to convey varying affects of temperature increases and the coastal responses to wave activity.