Winter Storms in Climate Science Versus Social Disciplines: A Collaborative Approach to Study Coastal Vulnerability

This year’s Climate and Society class is out in the field (or lab or office) completing a summer internship or thesis. They’ll be documenting their experiences one blog post at a time. Read on to see what they’re up to.

By Cari Shimkus, Climate and Society 2014

Satellite image of a nor’easter. Photo: Suomi NPP satellite, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

If you ask a climate scientist to describe winter storms in coastal areas, you might receive detailed information on extratropical cyclones or nor’easters. They might tell you about precipitation types, temperatures, winds, storm surge and wave action. They might tell you about associated erosion.

However, if you pose the same question to a social scientist, you’re not likely to get those specifics. But if you ask about how those winter storms place stress on coastal communities or how communities prepare, react to and cope with potential impacts? Then you’ll hear about specific policies, population statistics and socioeconomic factors, disaster responses and resources. On the other hand, climate scientists might not have as much to say.

This doesn’t mean that climate and social scientists have little knowledge of other disciplines. However, individuals become specialists to provide expertise on a particular topic.

In the Climate and Society program, we emphasize the importance of people with various backgrounds working together to learn about and address issues associated with climate change and climate variability. Therefore, it is important that each side has its specialized knowledge as well as a willingness to share that information and receive some in return. Current research on the vulnerability of the U.S. Atlantic coast to extreme winter storms is an excellent example of this practice since the project is a partnership between climate and social scientists.

Collaboration, especially with such diverse skillsets, can be a challenging task. For example, looking at impacts of winter storms conveyed in media, literature or reports from local governments and other organizations can shed light on a community’s vulnerability. But that qualitative information needs to be made measurable in order to draw conclusions or find patterns.

Data the impacts on coastal flooding, heavy snow, high surf and strong winds, can also provide clues on susceptible infrastructure, but connections need to be drawn between the physical processes of these events and their specific impacts. Neither activity is a small feat.

As a result, communication between all parties is pivotal to understand which communities and infrastructure are most vulnerable to winter storms and exactly how. Similar to how languages have idioms whose meanings need to be communicated when introduced to non-native speakers, climate and social science concepts need to be relayed so that they are digestible and actionable for both groups to work towards their common goal. Not relating the different pieces of information makes it difficult to identify the vulnerabilities as well as methods to reduce them. Therefore, to ensure success, climate and social scientists are collaborating to investigate the vulnerability of the Northeast to winter storms. After all, two heads are better than one.