Climate change vulnerabilities in the coastal Mid-Atlantic region

This study seeks to integrate the current state of knowledge about the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region in order to identify the key pressure points on the socioeconomic assets and activities of the region and to estimate the degree of vulnerability both in absolute terms and relative terms across the region. The results of this study should contribute to the already vigorous processes throughout the region that states and local communities are using to plan adaptation strategies.

Three chapters in this report address vulnerability for specific economic assets in the region: marine transportation, fisheries, and ecosystem services. To assess socio-economic vulnerabilities, a range of studies of climate change in the region and relevant studies drawn from elsewhere are summarized. For sea level rise, a projection common to the whole Mid-Atlantic region is used: the NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer provides consistent spatial projections of the areal extent (but not depth) of flooding that can be used to compare possible rates of sea level rise with the distribution of socio-economic assets across the region.