In the News

Coastal communities face escalating risks from climate change, natural disasters, and the loss of coastal habitats, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs, and the outlook is particularly dire for many of our most vulnerable communities. In response to these pressing issues, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature program recently signed a 4-year, $2.75 million cooperative agreement. They aim to address these challenges with equitable, nature-based solutions.

The Network for Engineering with Nature and the National Academy of Sciences' Gulf Research Program hosted a Policy Forum on Nature-based Solutions on February 7-8, 2024. The event was free and open to the public, bringing together policymakers, regulators, practitioners, academics, and others involved in the funding, policymaking, design, and/or construction of nature-based solutions.

"We are very much in a changed environment," said Mike Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "And we're not going to be able to rebuild back in the same places and in the same ways that we did before. We're going to have to think more clearly about how we design and where we put these."

The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) approved a resolution on Oct. 26 that designates coral reefs along U.S. states and territories as national infrastructure. This resolution makes it easier to direct federal funding, particularly infrastructure, hazard mitigation, and disaster recovery monies, to reef conservation and restoration to protect people, property, and livelihoods.

Coasts play a central role in our societies and yet, because of climate change, coasts are now at greater risk or erosion and flooding. In this masterclass, Prof. Mike Beck explores the superpower of nature, especially reefs and wetlands, to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

The Coastal Climate Resilience Symposium held at the Seymour Center focused on integrating nature-based solutions into risk management and insurance.

A two-day symposium at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz brought together insurance executives, coastal scientists, and politicians.

California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara says it's time to start talking about "climate insurance", a proposal that would provide everyone coverage in underserved areas like Pajaro.

Experts in the field of climate change, public policy and the insurance industry gathered at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Thursday to discuss ways to reduce the risks associated with climate caused natural disasters using insurance and nature-based solutions such as preserving and bolstering wetlands to prevent flooding.

UCSC’s emerging Center for Coastal Climate Resilience is applying scientific research to develop policy around climate change and coastal sustainability, while incorporating the campus’s ideals of social justice and collaboration.

Mitigation must continue, but adaptation has become urgent as well. California should step up once again.

The center is part of the university’s renewed research focus on climate change, resilience, and coastal sustainability. “I am honored and excited about the opportunity to lead the Center for the University,” said Beck. “The Center will focus our campus efforts on addressing the challenges we face from climate change and in identifying solutions that can benefit people and nature in coastal communities.”

Climate-related coastal disasters increasingly strain state and national budgets and most of these funds support artificial infrastructure that further degrades nature. Professor Mike Beck shows that coastal habitats can be cost effective for building climate resilience. He outlines how with a little disaster jiu-jitsu we can turn a grave threat to nature into an opportunity to save it.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded UCSC and an interdisciplinary team of researchers a $20 million grant to assess climate risks and identify where coral reefs and mangroves can best protect underserved coastal communities. The project is part of the NSF’s Coastlines and People program. Professor Beck will serve as co-director of the new Climate Risks and Equitable Nature-based Solutions Hub with Professor Maya Trotz, the lead PI from the University of South Florida.

This Prop 68 project uses complex computational models for the SF Bay to evaluate current and future flood risk. By modeling increases in sea-levels and storms, the team can assess the consequences of increased flooding to people and property, but also assess how ‘restored’ wetland habitats adjacent to development in low-lying areas can reduce flooding risk. Similar models are used to assess how management choices and other adaptation solutions can mitigate other climate impacts, such as wildfires, drought, and extreme heat.

Federal money to restore coastal areas hit by hurricanes and other disasters doesn’t cover the loss of natural assets like coral reefs. UC Santa Cruz marine scientist Michael Beck says it’s time to change that.

Using a benefit-risk analysis, researchers have found that mangroves and coral reefs can be cost-effective in reducing coastal flooding, a press release from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), said. Using risk and insurance industry techniques, the researchers were able to show that the gains from reduced damage from floods outweighed the costs of restoring the corals and mangroves, leading to a favorable return on investment.

UCSC scientists are part of a DARPA-funded team to develop innovative solutions for coral reef restoration in Florida and the Caribbean to protect coastal infrastructure

There is growing recognition of the role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, but despite mounting evidence of their technical efficacy, NbS face sizeable challenges and barriers to adoption, one of those being lack of clarity on how to quantify NbS benefits, leading to a failure to account for the true value of the generated benefits. This workshop organized by the InsuResilience Global Partnership contributes to a better understanding of the quantification of NbS in order to estimate the benefits of Nature-based Solutions and price them accordingly.

In this session of the Asian Development Bank Healthy Oceans Forum, Dr. Michael Beck sets the scene by providing an overview of the latest science, trends, and technologies for building coastal resilience to reduce risk to people, property and nature. He highlights the need to integrate nature-based solutions for coastal resilience, and the need for “green” rather than “grey” solutions.