While hurricanes Gustav and Ike were pummeling the Gulf Coast with rains and record flooding, researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) were studying why wave heights in the Pacific Ocean have been increasing in recent years and how this phenomenon – coupled with global warming – might affect coastal erosion, flooding and development along the Pacific Northwest coast.
Peter Ruggiero, an assistant professor of geosciences at OSU, is developing new computer models that factor in the increasing wave heights, as well as rising sea levels and the potential increase in frequency of El Niño weather conditions. El Nino is a cyclic water temperature weather pattern that results in warmer than normal ocean temperatures and triggers larger storms in the Pacific Ocean.
“We’re trying to see how a combination of these different processes – bigger waves, higher sea levels and potentially more frequent and intense El Niño conditions – could affect coastal areas along the Pacific Coast in a range of ways, from coastal erosion and lowland flooding to planned development,” said Ruggiero, whose research is funded in part by a $190,000 grant from Oregon Sea Grant.
