Originally published by the Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources

The Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission (CCMAC) has launched an updated version of the State of Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Viewer. The viewer was developed through partnership between the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS); the Coastal Research Collaborative at the University of Hawaiʻi and the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program; along with CCMAC, DLNR, and the Hawaiʻi Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. It is an online tool giving communities and local officials clearer insight into the growing threats facing coastlines and include expanded data, user-friendly guidance and social vulnerability indicators.

First released in 2017, this update seeks to help Hawaiʻi residents, planners and beachgoers get a better picture of how sea level rise may impact them at a range of projected heights. A new feature of passive flooding layers between four and eight feet provides valuable information about high-tide still-water flooding in higher sea level rise conditions. The updates also include the addition of a “social indicators” layer which allows users to view factors that can contribute to vulnerability from sea level rise impacts, such as houses built before 1970, with household members over the age of 65 and those identified as low income. Organizations can use this data to enhance community resilience and inform adaptation planning in coastal areas.