17吃瓜

Title of the Thesis:  "Assessing Coastal Erosion Under Climate Change:  A Case Study of Prince Edward Island"

Coastal erosion, exacerbated by climate change, threatens global communities. Traditional vulnerability assessments often underestimate climate-induced dynamic oceanic processes. This research addresses this gap by developing a process-based framework to quantify the role of extreme waves, using Prince Edward Island's vulnerable coastline as a case study. Analysis of Hurricane Fiona (2022) demonstrated the capacity of single storms to cause catastrophic land loss far exceeding long-term averages. Furthermore, correlation with multi-decadal wave data confirmed that the frequency of extreme wave events instead of average wave heights is the primary erosion driver. Future climate projections under intensified scenarios reveal a non-linear relationship, where increased extreme storm disproportionately amplifies wave heights and the corresponding potential coastline retreat, while critically shortening recovery periods. This work advocates a paradigm shift toward dynamic, process-based vulnerability assessments to guide mitigation and enhance coastal resilience globally.

November 7 at 1:30 pm in AVC 286A

Everyone is welcome to attend.