Coastal Services Center

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Why is Coastal Climatology Important?

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To ensure that the complex interactions between water and land-based climatologies are better understood, it is necessary to merge land, water, and atmospheric-based data and information. The resulting coastal climatologies will help coastal resource managers make better-informed decisions on a wide range of climatologically influenced issues.

To obtain information from various sectors of the coastal community on where climate data and information would be helpful in their decision-making processes, a stakeholder workshop (PDF, 731KB) was conducted at the NOAA Coastal Services Center to identify current and future uses of climate data and information. The results of this workshop demonstrated the importance of weather and climate information in decision making. Examples of sector-based issues impacted by climate are discussed below.

Air Pollution

Air pollution problems can be particularly complex in coastal regions. Pollutants produced coastally can get trapped in stable stratified marine air as it moves onshore (significantly increasing local concentrations). Cities such as Los Angeles, Houston, Tokyo, and Athens frequently have incidents of high pollution and ground-level ozone correlated with their local sea breezes. Regional air quality and emergency managers would benefit greatly from increased understanding and forecasting of the geography and timing of sea breeze events in relation to pollution emissions.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

Toxins from offshore algal blooms can become aerosolized and be transported onshore by sea breeze winds. These toxins can affect individuals living, working, and recreating in coastal areas affected by red tides. Toxins associated with red tides have been shown to produce increases in respiratory effects such as congestion and cough, eye and throat irritation, wheezing and shortness of breath, and asthma attacks in susceptible individuals. Public health officials, coastal employers, and tourists may be able to combine HAB alerts with local sea breeze forecasts to avoid or minimize potentially hazardous conditions.

Hazards

Planning for coastal hazards depends heavily on both short-term coastal weather factors and longer term climatic influences. Coastal climatologies can provide weather and climate history needed by emergency planners to make more confident mitigation and evacuation planning and implementation decisions in a timely manner. Developing a better understanding of information on severe meteorological and marine events and documenting their impacts will provide a rational and objective basis for making management and planning decisions.

Fisheries

Coastal fisheries are subject to fluctuations in catch due to a variety of economic and environmental factors. Physical conditions such as ocean temperature and salinity, ocean nutrients, and current patterns are all influenced by local climate patterns. Fisheries managers have increasingly worked to incorporate climate and fisheries interaction into management plans and both commercial and recreational fishers can use climate and weather data to help guide fishing efforts.

Recreation and Tourism

Along the nation's shorelines, understanding coastal climatology is essential for recreation and tourism planning. Weather and climate determine when outdoor activities can take place and affect vacationers' decisions about where and how to spend their holiday money. Understanding local climate can be a critical factor in the success or failure of tourism and hotel operators. In addition, an improved awareness of climate and weather patterns can provide industry and tourists with improved planning opportunities.

Agriculture

Agriculture along coastal regions is heavily influenced by shifts in climate and weather associated with both sea breezes and coastal weather changes. Marine air can moderate the temperature regime along the coast—shifting crop distribution and influencing yields. Shifts in coastal weather brought on by large-scale climatological events (such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation) can produce significant crop variability and have important implications for both producers and consumers. In addition, coastal sea breezes can have a considerable effect on the distribution of pollens and pests and can produce atypically moist conditions (increasing susceptibility to some fungi).

Energy

Both supply and demand of energy can be greatly influenced by coastal climate. Daily fluctuations in temperature produced by sea breezes and other coastal weather can significantly affect energy demand, and accurate prediction can play an important role in load forecasting. In addition, energy producers are dependent on weather factors (precipitation, winds, etc.) that are profoundly affected by coastal climatology.