Sea Level Rise Education and Outreach for Coastal North Carolina

Abstract

Environmental education and outreach are vital for preparing North Carolina to cope with impending sea level rise and the large number of risks it presents to the state’s coastal communities. The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission has created a draft sea level rise policy, which advocates for public education on the subject of sea level rise. In order to help with the goal of public education and outreach, educational materials were created for use by the Division of Coastal Management and other agencies. These materials consist of a sea level rise education section of the Division of Coastal Management website as well as an educational module on sea level rise. These materials can be used to target different audiences for sea level rise education. For example, a website serves as an educational tool that can reach a large number of people, displays a great deal of information, allows for the use of graphics and images that may aid in viewer comprehension and understanding, and can provide links that direct the reader to additional information on the subject from other sources. The educational module created as part of this Master’s Project provides more in-depth information on the science behind sea level rise and includes hands-on activities which enable students to better grasp less tangible concepts about this long term, hard to visualize process. Together, the website and the educational module present information about sea level rise, the science behind it, and some of the potential effects it can have on coastal North Carolina.