Coastal areas experience a dynamic combination of land and sea conditions, making it complicated to track changes, predict future circumstances, and identify ways to adapt. Considering 70% of California’s population lives within 50 miles of the coast, it is critical to understand current and future challenges to coastal environments.
CHI-Coastal seeks to integrate environmental monitoring and research across coastal protected areas in California. Research will forecast the fate of coastal waters and watersheds as coastal waters warm, fog patterns change, sea level rises, and human populations increase.
The project will utilize California Heartbeat Initiative platforms to make data and the stories of coastal environments available to the public and legislature while training our increasingly diverse population in environmental fields.
The sixteen UC NRS located across a longitudinal transect of more than 1,000 km along California’s coastal zone will serve as core research sites for the project. Additional collaborations will be established with other coastal protected sites across the state.