For the past twenty years, the COMET Program has been funded by NOAA to develop online education for operational meteorologist and hydrologists. In recent years, this audience has expanded into educators, emergency management professionals, and practitioners in related environmental areas. In 2009, COMET began working with NOAA Sea Grant to develop an online educational module for Sea Grant Extension agents on the topic of Coastal Climate Change.

As climate changes, dynamic coastal regions are experiencing a wide range of impacts. Sea levels, ocean acidification, sea surface temperatures, ocean heat, and ocean circulation have all been changing in ways unseen for thousands of years. Arctic sea ice melted significantly more during summers in the last 30 years, and storms are intensifying. Coastal ecosystems stand to be damaged, and coasts will likely erode from rising sea levels, intensified storm surges, and flooding that climate change may amplify. Coastal communities will need to prepare adaptation strategies to cope, and many who live or work in coastal regions are wondering what climate change might mean for them.

The Coastal Climate Change module provides an overview of the latest science on the impacts coastal regions are experiencing and may continue to experience as a result of Earth's changing climate. In addition, it also discusses mitigation and adaptation strategies coastal communities must consider in the face of climate change. Finally, a video series within the module demonstrates effective strategies for communicating climate science to stakeholders who must make response decisions. The module's intended audience is NOAA Sea Grant agents and others involved in coastal extension work, but the content should be relevant to anyone who works with, lives in, or holds an interest in coastal regions.

This multimedia module includes a variety of exercises and resources to take away, including an array of conceptual animations and science data visualizations that illustrate key coastal climate science concepts. The module can be found on the new MetEd Website (http://www.meted.ucar.edu/climate/coastalclimate/index.htm), along with many additional modules on meteorological and oceanographic topics of concern in coastal environments. These include:

• Wave Types and Characteristics

• Wave Life Cycle I: Generation

• Wave Life Cycle II: Propagation & Dispersion

• Downscaling of NWP Data

• Shallow Water Waves

• Winds in the Marine Boundary Layer: A Forecaster's Guide • Rip Currents: Nearshore Fundamentals

• Rip Currents: Forecasting

• Rip Currents: NWS Mission and Partnerships

• Landfalling Fronts and Cyclones

• Advances in Microwave Remote Sensing: Ocean Wind Speed and Direction

• Dynamically Forced Fog

• Low-Level Coastal Jets

• Gap Winds

• Thermally-forced Circulation I: Sea Breezes

• Coastally Trapped Wind Reversals

• West Coast Fog