Improving the Federal Sea Level Science to Climate Service Delivery Pipeline

Coastal communities across the United States are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of rising sea levels and coastal changes driven by climate change. These changes, which include vertical land motion, erosion, and the effects of waves, currents, winds, tides, and extreme weather, present significant challenges to infrastructure, ecosystems, and populations. To effectively address these risks, there is a critical need for integrated science and consistent federal guidance that can support comprehensive risk planning and decision-making at a local level.

However, stakeholders often face confusion and frustration due to the abundance of federal tools and resources that provide different approaches to assessing sea level rise risks. Many of these tools are highly technical and geared toward specialized users like engineers and floodplain managers, with little educational content for broader audiences. This has created a gap between the available information and its practical application in decision-making processes.

To bridge this gap, the Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change developed the U.S. Sea Level Change web resource– a centralized whole-of-government platform. This site consolidates the latest science on sea level change and pairs it with educational content to enhance the nation's understanding of evolving sea levels and their impacts on coastal environments. Through this platform, users can explore how sea levels and flooding risks are changing in their area, assess potential impacts, and consider resilience-building options.

Addressing the nation’s coastal risks requires a coordinated effort across multiple federal agencies. Central to this effort is the Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change, which operates under the U.S. Global Change Research Program(USGCRP) and is governed by the National Science and Technology Council. The Task Force with member agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has launched a joint initiative to advance integrated science and service delivery on sea level and related impacts. This collaboration is designed to foster efficiencies, break down barriers, and encourage innovation through collaboration in the field of sea level science.

The Task Force, was formally recognized by USGCRP in April 2024, but has been actively collaborating on scientific advancements since 2012. A major driving force behind the production of the U.S. Sea Level Change website in the Fall of 2024 and receiving formal recognition under USGCRP, was the desire to go beyond just the production of scientific updates to ensuring science was usable, accessible, and understandable. To do this the Task Force has committed to active engagement through a variety of federal and non-governmental partnerships that allow the leading sea level rise scientists to directly engage and hear from local and regional practitioners about how the science and delivery of science can be improved to allow users to better utilize and apply research to local decision-making. The U.S. Sea Level Change website will also provide a venue for scientists to continue to improve upon lessons learned from local practitioners, with the Task Force playing a pivotal role in producing updated sea level rise science and projections while also creating space for collaboration and learning on best practices for communicating sea level rise science for the United States.

This abstract highlights the importance of interagency collaboration in producing and disseminating actionable sea level rise science, informed by users' needs and improving upon lessons learned. By moving beyond traditional siloed single-agency production of science to true collaborative co-production of science informed by users' needs, this initiative ensures that decision-makers at all levels have access to the tools and information necessary to effectively plan for and mitigate coastal risks. The U.S. Sea Level Change site exemplifies this approach, providing a comprehensive and accessible resource that supports informed decision-making in the face of a changing climate.