Saving Our Shores

About

The coastal places where hundreds of millions of people live are likely to be underwater by 2050. A combination of thermal expansion and melting of vast arctic ice sheets is causing the earth’s oceans to rise, threatening seaside settlements across the globe. USGS Geologist Patrick Barnard has spent years investigating the risks to communities along the Pacific coastline of North America. He and his colleagues have developed a powerful tool to help give coastal communities a detailed picture of the hazards that lie ahead.

Resources

Our partners, The Climate Initiative and the National Science Teaching Association, have created outstanding resources to accompany each of our films. Click on the buttons below to access the lesson plan and community outreach guide for Saving Our Shores. The classroom-ready lesson plan developed by the National Science Teaching Association highlights the science and engineering practices scientists use to explain the phenomenon of climate change. The Climate Initiative’s community outreach guide offers talking points and prompts to help foster viewer conversations about the film.

NSTA Lesson Plan

TCI Discussion Guide

Meet the Scientist

Patrick Barnard, Ph.D.

Research Geologist, United States Geological Survey

Dr. Patrick Barnard has been a Research Geologist with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz since 2003, is the Project Chief for the Coastal Climate Impacts Project, and Co-Developer of the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS). His research focuses on coastal hazards driven by storms and sea level rise across U.S. beaches and estuaries. Patrick’s research has been published in over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and he serves on numerous regional, national, and international scientific review panels related to climate change and coastal hazards, including within the U.S. Global Change Research Program and Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, and has advised members of the U.S. Congress and Cabinet, as well as state and local government representatives. He currently serves as a Co-author on the Coastal Effects Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment. Patrick received a BA from Williams College, MS from University of South Florida, and PhD from UC Riverside.

Click here to read more about Dr. Barnard’s work.

Additional Footage Provided By

The Bay Foundation

Mercury Press International

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