Evolving Solutions: Human Development/Data Science
Catalonia, the northeastern most region of Spain, is an ideal part of the world to study climate change because of its diverse geography including sea, coastline, mountains, rivers, cropland, and urban and rural areas. This region has experienced temperature increases, drying climates, shortage of rainfall and sea temperature and sea level rises, especially in the summer months, all of which have been occurring at an accelerating rate in recent decades. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, has undergone some of the worst impacts of climate change such as temperature rises, a significant decrease in precipitation and an increase in droughts, heatwaves, and coastal erosion. Of these, coastal erosion has had the greatest impact due to its negative effects on tourism and property values along the coastline, as well as the associated annual cost of rebuilding beaches. Two data science methodologies in particular address Barcelona’s coastal erosion problems: (i) oceanographic and meteorological observations at a coastal station in Catalonia reinforced by NASA satellite readings to precisely measure sea level and sea temperature rise over multiple decades; and (ii) coastal observations over a range of meteo-oceanographic and socio-economic pressures, including littoral drift and population density, to arrive at a framework to address coastal erosion in and around Barcelona. While these methodologies can together explain much of the coastal erosion occurring along the Catalan coastline, there is a need to further integrate long-term data science sources and methods for coastal precipitation (or lack thereof), economic development, and the effects of tourism stemming from Barcelona’s cruise ship ports and airport.