March 3, 2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
CONTACTS: Â Jackson Blalock, 206-543-0555 or jackbl@uw.edu
                       MaryAnn Wagner, 206-616-6353 or maryannb@uw.edu
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Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network Launches New and Improved Website
Photo by Sonni Tadlock
Seattle, WA — Washington Sea Grant and the Washington Department of Ecology, along with other partners, have collaborated to launch a new and improved website for the Coastal Hazards Resilience Network (CHRN). This website and associated interactive map offer users a way to learn about coastal hazards science with the hopes that, through education and understanding, coastal disasters might be reduced.
Washington’s coastlines hold a plethora of economic, environmental, social, and cultural heritage benefits for our state and Tribal Nations. The state’s coastal areas are also heavily populated, thus making them vulnerable to natural hazards such as flooding, landslides and earthquakes. Climate change and rising sea levels will only compound the frequency and severity of these hazards, and far-sighted community planning and project design will be vital in facing these impacts effectively.
This is where CHRN comes in. Established in 2013, CHRN is a resource for strengthening the resilience of Washington’s coastal communities through collaboration, education and knowledge exchange. The new CHRN website helps make this mission a reality by introducing new tools and resources for the community as a whole. The Coastal Hazards Risk Reduction Project Mapper, for example, makes regional risk reduction examples readily available through an interactive interface and will help future projects by providing lessons and case studies in resilient coastal communities and ecosystems.
The site also offers access to sea level rise data visualizations created and funded through the Washington Coastal Resilience Project (WCRP).  WSG and the WCRP team produced updated probabilistic sea level rise projections for the entire coastline of Washington State. University of Washington Climate Impacts Group (CIG) created a tool to visualize the projections. You can now access this tool on both the CHRN and CIG’s website. Visit the CIG website to learn more: https://cig.uw.edu
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Housed in the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, Washington Sea Grant leads research, outreach and education for people to understand and address challenges facing our ocean and coasts. Join the conversation with @WASeaGrant and facebook.com/WaSeaGrant. Visit us online at wsg.washington.edu.
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