GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND ITS EFFECTS ON COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN STATEN ISLAND, NY

By the end of the 21st century relative global sea levels are expected to rise by approximately 1.0 m, threatening the lives of millions of people living in low-lying coastal communities. The vulnerability of Staten Island, NY, to rising sea levels was made clear during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. A majority of the neighborhoods that were damaged and inundated were built in heavily degraded costal zones, leaving little natural defenses to protect their property. Utilizing geospatial tools, like Google Earth Pro and ArcGIS, will allow models to be created to determine the locations in most need of redeveloping coastal ecosystems to increase protection to these vulnerable communities. Preliminary results have shown that in some locations the coastline has receded 150 m in the last 30 years, and will only grow worse as the rate of sea level rise increases. By modeling the rate in which coastal ecosystems will need to migrate landward this century to provide valuable natural defenses, such as sediment accumulation and wave height diminishment, will be of the upmost importance for city officials said coastal researchers.