Frontiers in Climate

Publisher:: Frontiers
ISSN:: 2624-9553
Category:: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Impact factor:: 3.3

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Supporting coastal flood forecasting and community-led adaptation with tide gauges, community science and youth engagement

2026-03-20

Hannah Baranes, Gayle Bowness, David Reidmiller, Meggie Harvey, Riley Young Morse, Tora Johnson, Anna Simpson, Abigail Long, Alex Kerney, Connor Brooks, Stephanie Sun, Adelle Pitsas, Sheba Brown, Robin Lea, Catherine Bursk, Dylan Pugh, Sienna Zuco, Morgan Glynn, Donald Dumont, John Cannon, Louise Fode, Tom Shyka, Jamie Carter, Kevin Mukai, Brian Glazer, Anastasia Fischer, Carol Coryea, Colleen Maker, Alison England, Emily Hollyday, Alice Shaw, Kevin Deneault, Troy Moon, Katie Tims, Cathy Lookabaugh, Kyle Winslow, Kathryn Liberman, Sarah Oktay, Alaina Zyhowski, Dottie Yunger, Bailey O’Brien

As sea level rise shifts coastal flooding from future threat to present reality, communities must transition from planning to implementing operational solutions for managing increasingly frequent and damaging floods. Coastal flood management requires both technical and human capacity, including access to reliable water level forecasts, established relationships between water level and local impact, and an informed and engaged network of practitioners and community members. Here, we describe the transferable approach of a multidisciplinary team of research, civic, community, education, and industry partners working to expand the collection of coastal water level and flood impact data in coastal Maine, USA. The approach centers community leadership and youth engagement to achieve project sustainability and translation of data toward community resilience. We installed a network of ultrasonic and radar tide gauges and developed local capacity for running and sustaining a coastal-flooding community science program that collects geo- and time-referenced flood impact data. We also involved youth through a newly developed curriculum in which students contribute flood observation data and engage with decision-makers in their communities around flood adaptation strategies. National Weather Service forecasters are using paired water level and flood impact observations to establish new total water level forecast points, local flood thresholds, and detailed impact statements. Municipalities are applying the data to near-term event response and long-term climate planning and adaptation projects. Embedding flood awareness in communities through this suite of data, tools, activities, and events is fostering a form of climate resilience and preparedness that is somewhat intangible and yet deeply valuable.

DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2026.1757212

Household-level climate vulnerability of buffalo-rearing communities in northern and western India: a composite index approach

2026-03-11

S. Aiswarya, Gururaj Makarabbi, Sunesh Balhara, Ashok Boora, S. K. Phulia, Sanjay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Ekta Hooda, Mala Singh, Ashok Kumar Balhara

Buffalo husbandry is central to the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in northern and western India, providing both economic security and nutritional sustenance. Climate variability and extreme weather events, however, increasingly threaten buffalo productivity and household resilience, particularly among resource-poor farmers with limited access to veterinary and extension services. This study employed a composite index framework to assess the vulnerability of 720 buffalo-rearing households across six states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana by integrating indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The Buffalo rearing Households Vulnerability Index (B-HVI) was constructed using 41 indicators classified under these three dimensions, with Shannon’s entropy-based objective weighting. Results revealed substantial inter- and intra-state disparities. Haryana (B-HVI = 0.595) and Punjab (B-HVI = 0.488), characterized by high adaptive capacity (AC = 0.886 and AC = 0.745, respectively), structured extension support, and strong market linkages, exhibited the lowest vulnerability. Conversely, Bihar (B-HVI = 0.801) and Rajasthan (B-HVI = 0.799) showed the highest vulnerability due to low adaptive capacity (ACI = 0.208 and ACI = 0.618, respectively) and high sensitivity (SI = 0.789 and SI = 0.657). One-way ANOVA confirmed significant differences in mean B-HVI across states (F = 30.08, p < 0.001), and Tukey’s post-hoc test delineated two distinct groups: Haryana and Punjab with relatively lower vulnerability, versus Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh with substantially higher vulnerability. Strengthening adaptive capacity through improved veterinary services, extension networks, and resource access is critical for reducing vulnerability in Bihar and Rajasthan, while consolidating resilience in Haryana and Punjab. The study highlights the urgency of state-specific, climate-resilient strategies to safeguard buffalo husbandry and rural livelihoods.

DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2026.1768137