Socioeconomics Of Sea Level Rise

The Socioeconomics of Sea Level Rise Project incorporates the best available data in an effort to identify the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the populations located within the 1, 3, 5 and 7 foot SLR inundation zones in the state’s 21 coastal communities. Housing characteristics were also evaluated. While many sea level rise projects in the state focus on structural vulnerability, the Socioeconomics of Sea Level Rise project is uniquely focused on people, and serves as a complimentary data piece for sea level rise projects of various concentrations.

• Project deliverables include a technical paper, as well as factsheets and data profiles for the state’s coastal communities, including Aquidneck Island. Of the 21 coastal communities in the state, the City of Pawtucket was the sole municipality without any residential units identified within the various SLR scenarios. Given the scope of the methodology, a factsheet and data profile was not developed for Pawtucket, as residential units serve as the core for data generation.
• The technical paper serves as a resource in explaining the methodology of the project, as well as project deliverables.
• The factsheets, are intended to present a current snapshot of coastal inundation population characteristics. Many of the variables included pertain to the protected Title VI and Environmental Justice populations.
• The Community Data Profiles serve as full appendix tables which include all of the data variables utilized for the project, and includes variable that were not featured in the factsheets.
• Rhode Island Socioeconomics of Sea Level Rise Technical Paper 168