Climate Change, Community Resilience, and Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico

• Main Author: Ward, Lauren
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2015
• Subjects: Life Sciences; Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Gulf of Mexico; environmental restoration; coastal restoration; Gulf Coast restoration; climate change mitigation; coastal resilience; climate change impacts; sea level rise; coastal infrastructure; coastal flooding; ocean acidification; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3gp1j84r

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill devastated the Gulf Coast in 2010 and was the worst spill in U.S. history. However, the disaster has given rise to an unprecedented amount of restoration funds. Five primary programs, backed by nearly $5 billion to date, will fund a variety of restoration projects, most of which will be administered at the state and regional level. While some approaches exist on how to integrate climate change into restoration decision-making, many post-Deepwater Horizon restoration projects fail to adequately address climate change impacts. This report will discuss how to consider the known and potential impacts of climate change on restoration efforts in order to build resilience in coastal communities.