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UH researchers call for new standards for building in coastal flood zones
September 2, 2025
A new study reveals a wide variety of approaches across the U.S. for establishing building elevation guidelines that account for future sea level rise, highlighting a need for more standardized methods. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa research, published in Water, provides a critical resource for policymakers and designers in coastal communities such as Hawaiʻi who are planning for the impacts of climate change.
“With coastal high tide flooding having doubled in the U.S. in the last two decades, it’s clear that we need to build for the future, not just for the past,” said lead author Wendy Meguro, an associate professor in the UH Mānoa School of Architecture and director of the Environmental Research and Design Lab. “Our main suggestion is for policymakers and designers to plan for sea-level rise amounts projected within a building’s lifetime.” Read More…
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Storm drains connected to Ala Wai Canal could fail by 2050, UH researchers say
August 18, 2025
Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Catherine Cruz
Countdown to 2050. That is just 25 years away, and researchers are flagging that sea level rise and the flood risk are not something to ignore. This week, University of Hawaiʻi researchers will meet with the mayor about their findings. Their work was published last month in Scientific Reports. It cautioned that Waikīkī’s storm drain system, which empties into the Ala Wai Canal, could fail sooner than people think. Chip Fletcher is the dean of the School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology, known as SOEST. Fletcher, Chloe Obara and Shellie Habel have long studied the very real threat facing communities. HPR featured Habel’s work with groundwater inundation in Waikīkī earlier this year. Read More…Photo Credit: Army Corps of Engineers
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Sea level rise becomes threatening for coastal areas: Rapa Nui Moai statues
August 12, 2025
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Rising sea levels are now threatening Rapa Nui’s Moai statues. According to a Cultural Heritage study by students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, by 2080, the rising sea levels could cause seasonal waves to reach Ahu Tongariki, the iconic ceremonial platform that is part of the Rapa Nui National Park.
Paoa and his team built a digital twin of the study site and used advanced computer models to simulate the wave environment along the coastline.
“This research shows a critical threat to the living culture and livelihood of Rapa Nui,” said Paoa, lead author of the study and doctoral student in the Department of Earth Sciences in the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). “For the community, these sites are an essential part of reaffirming identity and economically the backbone of the island’s tourism industry.” Read More
Photo Credit: MOANA NUI @MOANANUIFILMS
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UH Earth scientists author children’s book, support Oʻahu keiki to mālama ʻāina
July 17, 2025
A researcher-keiki collaboration aims to foster a deep connection to the land and community through storytelling. The Coastal Research Collaborative (CRC) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa developed The Sand Dance, a storybook that was inspired by a play researchers co-created with students at Kaʻaʻawa Elementary.
“It’s a poetic tale about friendship and beach dynamics, where dunes and waves dance in harmony, much like the relationships we nurture in life,” Andrade said. “When children explore the environment with wonder and care, they grow into empowered, compassionate citizens who understand the importance of mālama ʻāina.”
The story, written by Earth Sciences doctoral student Helena Andrade and illustrated by CRC researcher Richelle Moskvichev, is available online and as an audiobook, and draws from Andrade’s years of coastal fieldwork in Brazil and Australia, her love for dance, and friendship with UH Mānoa Department of Urban and Regional Planning in the College of Social Sciences doctoral student Kammie Tavares.
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Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050
July 9, 2025
Existing sea level rise models for coastal cities often overlook the impacts of rainfall on infrastructure. Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa predicted that by 2050, large rain events combined with sea level rise could cause flooding severe enough to disrupt transportation and contaminate stormwater inlets (grate or curb opening in Waikīkī’s streets that collects rainwater and directs it into the storm drainage system) across 70% of Waikīkī, due to interactions with water in the Ala Wai Canal. Their study was published in July 2025 in Scientific Reports… Read More
Photo Description: A Waikīkī storm drain nearly full during a king tide. (Photo credit: Hawaiʻi Sea Grant King Tides Project)
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Bill to support climate research with state dollars dies amid federal cuts
April 30, 2025
Astatemeasure to fund a group of scientists collecting crucial Hawaiʻi climate data faltered on the final day of conference committee last week.
Senate Bill 657 proposed the creation of a climate data hub within the University of Hawaiʻi’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, using $2 million in state funds to support the work of 15 researchers affiliated with the Coastal Research Collaborative.
The collaborative’s research underlies many of Hawaiʻi’s key policies on sea level rise, including county shoreline setback ordinances and a recent real estate law requiring sellers to disclose whether their properties on the market are vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal erosion… Read More
Photo Description: This waterfront walkway near the Barefoot Beach Cafe in Waikīkī is under repair after collapsing in May 2024. (Feb. 19, 2025)
Photo Credit: Catherine Cruz / HPR
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UH researcher shares new projections of the scope and speed of coastal erosion
April 15, 2025
Sea level rise in Hawaiʻi is progressing at a faster pace than previously thought. A new set of scientific models is showing some surprising projections about the state of our beaches and shorelines.
The research comes from the lab of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professor Chip Fletcher, who has been publishing models of sea level rise and beach loss since 1997.
Richelle Moskvichev, a scientific researcher in Fletcher’s lab, spoke with The Conversation about her team’s new research that was published in Scientific Reports… Read More
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Hawaiʻi islands sinking faster in some areas; risk for flooding
March 16, 2025
Some parts of Hawaiʻi are sinking faster than others. That discovery, published recently in a study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, also highlights that as sea level rises, the infrastructure, businesses and communities in these low-lying areas are at risk of flooding sooner than scientists anticipated, particularly in certain urban areas of Oʻahu.
“Our findings highlight that subsidence (gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land) is a major, yet often overlooked, factor in assessments of future flood exposure,” said Kyle Murray, lead author of the study and researcher with the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC) at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). “In rapidly subsiding areas, sea level rise impacts will be felt much sooner than previously estimated, which means that we must prepare for flooding on a shorter timeline… Read more
Image Caption: Flooding in the low-lying Mapunapuna industrial area on O’ahu, Hawai’i
Credit: Hawaiʻi Sea Grant King Tides Project.
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Flooding expected sooner in Hawai’i’s sinking coastal areas
March 5, 2025
Some parts of Hawai‘i are sinking faster than others. That discovery, published recently in a study by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, also highlights that as sea level rises, the infrastructure, businesses, and communities in these low-lying areas are at risk of flooding sooner than scientists anticipated, particularly in certain urban areas of O‘ahu.
“Our findings highlight that subsidence is a major, yet often overlooked, factor in assessments of future flood exposure,” said Kyle Murray, lead author of the study and researcher with the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC) at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). “In rapidly subsiding areas, sea level rise impacts will be felt much sooner than previously estimated, which means that we must prepare for flooding on a shorter timeline.”… Read More
Image Caption: Flooding in the low-lying Mapunapuna industrial area on O’ahu, Hawai’i
Credit: Hawaiʻi Sea Grant King Tides Project.
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Waikīkī businesses, residents face underground flooding due to sea level rise
February 21, 2025
Shellie Habel is a hydrologist and geologist with the University of Hawaiʻi’s Climate Resilience Collaborative. Partnering with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, Habel monitors groundwater wells in Waikīkī to study the hidden threat of rising sea levels.
HPR connected with her last week as she fished out specialized equipment from the Ala Wai Canal to study flood inundation. She said that her research over the years has tracked high levels of fecal bacteria correlating to high visitor counts in Waikīkī hotels, which makes you wonder how it’s getting in the canal… Read More
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Sea Level Research in Rapa Nui
February 2, 2025
Check out Noah Paoa’s Research in Rapa Nui!
Video Created by Moana Nui – @MoanaNuiFilms
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Human converging crises: climate change, ecological destruction, disease, pollution, and socioeconomic inequality
December 11, 2024
The interconnected global crises—climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity, and inequality—are intensifying due to unsustainable, profit-driven economic systems. Rising temperatures and CO2 levels threaten humanity, while freshwater depletion jeopardizes food security and public health. Vulnerable populations bear the brunt of these crises, highlighting the need for a cultural shift toward sustainability and equity. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach that prioritizes social justice, sustainable resource management, and urgent action to limit global warming to 1.5°C… Read More