Full highlights from the Regional Sea Level Changes and Coastal Impacts Conference in New York City are available on the conference website (links to each day below).
Day 1 - Opening: high-profile remarks on the societal importance of addressing sea level changes
"We have a special responsibility to help society respond to the climate issue. We need to develop smart, end-to-end, climate information systems of basic research to climate services” - Guy Brasseur
Day 2 - Understanding today’s sea level: trends, amplitude, and new approaches
A multi-model approach has been found to be more appropriate than dynamic or statistical modeling for prediction sea level variability - from a presentation by Matthew Widlansky, University of Hawaii Sea Level Center.
Day 3 - Risk, adaptation strategies, and stakeholder needs for coastal zone management
“Adaptation has many steps. It’s a pathway,” - Robert Nicholls, University of Southampton.
Day 4 - The dynamics of sea level rise today and into the future
The role of observations is important and “if you don’t know the past, then you don’t know the future” - Mike Alexander, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
Katy Hill, scientific officer for the Global Climate Observing System and Global Ocean Observing System, framed the town hall by wanting to know how we get the global ocean system humming to meet our decision making needs, particularly the requirements for moving into the coastal regions.
Day 5 - The Future of Climate and Ocean Science
Why do we organize climate science internationally? “Some problems we are facing are so large, one country can’t do it alone” - Martin Visbeck, GEOMAR
