Union of Concerned Scientists

Welcome! You've just entered into a visual presentation of the rich and varied landscapes of the Gulf Coast region of the United States—an area stretching in a large arc from Texas to Florida. We hope you'll take a few minutes to wander the white sand beaches of the Gulf Coast, to explore some of the special places that make this region unique, and to understand how humans and nature have interacted in this region.

A stunningly beautiful landscape, the Gulf Coast region is also rich with ecological resources that support the region's economic wealth. The combined impacts of climate change and pressure from human activities, however, pose serious challenges to these resources. A recent study by the region's top scientists found that climate change in the Gulf states would have wide-ranging impacts that would magnify the harmful side effects of human activity on the region's environment. Thankfully, there are prudent steps we can take now to meet the challenge of climate change.

This interactive feature is designed to introduce you to the findings of this report, Confronting Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region: Prospects for Sustaining Our Ecological Heritage, and to provide you with an overview of how this region's ecosystems and natural resources could change. These insights may help us safeguard both our ecological heritage and our economic future.

On this site, you'll be able to:

• survey each of the five Gulf states, learning more about the state's environment and economy as well as the changes global warming may bring its way;
  
  
• tour five of the special places that make this region unique, enjoying the views and obtaining insights into the threats climate change poses to these treasures;
  
  
• explore in more depth the likely impacts of a changing climate on the region's freshwater resources;
  
  
• experience the phenomena of sea-level rise and understand why the region's flat landscape magnifies the threats of rising seas; and
  
  
• meet some hypothetical residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast, who will tell you about how they make a living or why they visit here, and what climate change means to them in their everyday lives.

SOLUTIONS
We also invite you to discover and explore the cost effective, technically feasible solutions to global warming that are already at hand—and, in some cases, already being implemented in the region. Confronting Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region is a wake up call to Gulf Coast residents and visitors alike: we have the knowledge and the resources to tackle the global warming problem—and it would be irresponsible to delay when we know what we have to do.

EDUCATORS
From these pages you can also get a copy of the report and state specific brochures. If you are a teacher or educator, the accompanying curriculum guide will be of interest.

TAKE ACTION
After you've learned about the threats a changing climate poses to the Gulf Coast region, why don't you take a couple of minutes to tell policymakers to get busy tackling the problem? It's easy to do on our action pages.

TELL A FRIEND
You can also help by telling your friends, family, and neighbors about this website. Good old fashioned word-of-mouth is still the tried-and-true way to inform others and encourage them to get involved. Click here to send a Gulf Coast "postcard" to folks on your email list.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
We'd love to hear your feedback and consider your suggestions for improving the feature. Your comments also help us measure our success and gives us ideas for future features. So please, drop us a quick email note at ssi@ucsusa.org.