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GULF COAST REGIONAL ASSESSMENT: PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Impact/Purpose:
Assessment Activity: As part of the USGCRP's First National Assessment effort, EPA is sponsoring the Gulf Coast Regional Assessment.
Description:
As part of the USGCRP's First National Assessment effort, EPA is sponsoring the Gulf Coast Regional Assessment. Southern University and A&M College and its collaborators are analyzing and evaluating the potential consequences of climate variability and change for the region in the context of other pressures on the people, environment, and natural resources of the Gulf Coast region. This region includes the Gulf Coastal Plains and the coastal waters of southern Texas, southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and western Florida. The project objectives are to: (1) select and apply climate scenarios/models, ecosystem models, and socio-economic trends scenarios to regional data bases; (2) assess climate change impacts on sectors within the region with emphasis on coastal ecosystems and bottomland forests; (3) assess the consequences for minority communities by conducting socioeconomic impact analysis using unique minority socioeconomic scenarios; (4) identify coping strategies and research needs; (5) outreach to stakeholders especially minority communities, small limited resource farmers, minority farmers, small forest woodland owners, and socially and economically disadvantaged communities; and (6) build institutional capacity at SU by developing a core team of minority faculty who would be capable of making substantial contributions to future climate change assessment projects.