At the Water's Edge: Coastal Settlement, Transformative Adaptation, and Well-Being in an Era of Dynamic Climate Risk

Abstract:

Climate change is exacerbating these risks in coastal U.S. cities through accelerating sea level rise (SLR), causing stronger storms, and greater probability of extreme flooding events as well as incremental sunny day flooding. These conditions are placing pressure on municipalities and local residents to consider a range of new disaster risk reduction programs, climate resilience initiatives, and in some cases relocation strategies. It is increasingly understood that these more substantial climate risks and climate adaptation actions have varying and significant impacts on the quality of life, well-being, and mental health of urban coastal residents.

More than a decade ago scholarly writing started to appear that described the potential psychological impacts of heightened climate change impacts on coastal communities and their inhabitants. This literature presented opinion and scenario-based assessments of the expected economic and psychological challenges that communities will face with accelerating sea level rise, increased flooding and inundation. A central theme of this research was on the loss of sense of place and associated psychological stress. One central objective of this paper is to review and assess the early literature on climate change and community well being as well as newer empirically based studies. While this literature is still relatively nascent, a much broader literature does exist on how community dynamics result in challenges to residents’ psychological well-being. This research is deeply connected to a variety of issues within the social sciences especially disaster and hazards analysis, environmental psychology and urban geography and planning studies. This research heretofore has not been fully integrated into the climate change and community literature. An often critique of the climate change inquiry is that it emerges in isolation from the broader social science literature on topics of related focus and interest. This paper will provide some of that integration. A second key objective of this paper will be to review and assess the broader social science literature on community transformation and well-being through a lens relevant to dynamic coastal risk and climate change. Together this analysis will help this paper present several key areas of research and knowledge gaps.