EARTH 107NCoastal Processes, Hazards and Society

3 credits · Earth Sciences · Penn State

Ten percent of the world's population or approximately 600 million people live on land that is within 10 meters of sea level. This low elevation coastal zone includes some of the world's most populous cities including New York, London, Miami, Calcutta, Tokyo, and Cairo. This zone is threatened by a host of environmental challenges, including but not limited to sea level rise. The overarching goal of this course is to provide students with a global perspective of coastal landscapes, the processes responsible for their formation, diversity and change over time, as well as socioeconomic and policy responses to current biophysical changes in the coastal zones around the world. Students will use real-world coastal data sets to evaluate hazards such as hurricanes and tsunamis and their effects on coastal populations. Coastal processes to be considered include tectonic settings, effects of glaciation, sediment supply, and wave and tidal energy. The impacts of sea level rise and its local effects on communities will be a focus. Engineering solutions to projected sea level rise impacts such as coastal flooding and habitat loss in coastal areas will also be examined.