NOAA panel discusses sea level rise at planning meeting

WASHINGTON, D.C.—An advisory panel within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, held a public meeting at the Hall of States in Washington, D.C., on March 5-7, to discuss sea level rise and coastal inundation. Members of the public provided NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel with input regional navigational services, water levels, global positioning or any other issues associated with sea level rise and coastal inundation. The panel advises NOAA’s administrator on products and services used for global positioning, navigation and water levels/currents. Changes in sea level and more frequent coastal inundation events could alter readings of global positioning and uses of navigational charts. Data and information presented at these public meetings are tools for NOAA; the federal agency uses such data and information in updating coastal and ocean mapping protocols and determining its priorities for the Arctic region, for example. The panel’s recommendations to the NOAA administrator are partially influenced by what is shared at the public meetings. “The public meeting [focuses] on broad issues related to hydrographic and navigation services, products and data,” the public meeting’s official notice explained about the panel’s goal, March 5-7. Sessions were held on legislative issues and sea level rise. Panel members previously met in August 2018...