Climate change is leading to an increase in sea level rise, putting millions of people in danger of severe coastal flooding in coming years.
Sherif Abdelaziz, associate professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, is collaborating with researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, to find solutions to keep coastal areas safe by enhancing the resilience of sea walls against increasing coastal flooding. The PIONEER project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and is aiming to be the initial step in a global collaboration to strengthen coastal defenses.
With climate change-driven increases in sea levels, coastal flooding events are predicted to rise in frequency and severity. In the United States, coastal sea levels are expected to rise by 0.25 to 0.30 meters by 2050. This is the same amount that was measured between 1920 and 2020.
Read more at: Virginia Tech
(From left) Sherif Abdelaziz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and graduate students Alex Zubrow and Tanner Whitesell. (Photo Credit: Peter Means for Virginia Tech)