COASTAL HAZARDS LESSONS
Coastal Hazards are natural and manmade events that threaten the health of coastal ecosystems and communities. This definition includes, but is not limited to, hurricanes, tsunamis, erosion, oil spills, harmful algal blooms and pollution. The Introduction to Coastal Hazards PowerPoint presentation focuses on natural coastal hazards that occur in Maryland, such as:
Maryland is vulnerable to coastal hazards because of the low-lying topography and soil types, as well as the placement of property and lives in inappropriate areas. Across the nation, more and more people are moving to our coastal communities, and this trend is true in Maryland as well. When people move to dynamic coastal areas, the intensive development we establish along coastlines makes us more vulnerable to storms and flooding. Coastal flood events are often devastating to the local and regional communities. Our most recent coastal flood event occurred in 2003, when tropical storm Isabel pushed up the Bay causing the sea to temporarily rise as much as ten feet in some places. The natural rise of the sea throughout time in response to change in global climate and local land changes, known as sea level rise, is also increasing our vulnerability to flooding. Together, storms, ongoing daily coastal processes and sea level rise result in approximately 69% of Maryland’s coasts experiencing erosion. You can learn more about coastal hazards and how they impact people, the land and biological communities in Maryland by using the Maryland Shoreline Changes Online (MSO) web portal to conduct in-depth investigations. This interactive mapping application allows users to access historical shoreline and physical data layers and assess shoreline erosion trends. The Maryland Coastal Hazard Lessons apply the interactive web map viewer providing students to conduct in-depth investigations. The below conceptual model highlights the focus of the different Coastal Hazards Lessons. Click on the image below to see it larger.
|
Lesson Plans &
|
