Galveston Sea Level Rise Map

This map explores the future of Galveston, Texas, a barrier island that stands at the intersection of climate change, coastal processes, and human resilience. Using sea level rise scenarios modeled for the year 2100, I visualized three projected inundation levels: 0.82 feet, 2.43 feet, and 5.91 feet. These scenarios are symbolized in layered tones of yellow, orange, and red to show how increasing water levels reshape neighborhoods, wetlands, road networks, and the shoreline itself.

Galveston is an ideal place to study coastal vulnerability. Much of the island sits only a few feet above sea level, and the landscape has been shaped by decades of subsidence, erosion, hurricane storm surge, and tidal flooding. Mapping these scenarios offered a way to better understand how rising seas—combined with land subsidence and extreme weather—could alter the island’s future and affect the people who call it home.

To create this visualization, I combined coastal digital elevation models with sea level rise raster layers and used a satellite basemap to ground the projections in familiar spatial context. The inundation categories were symbolized to highlight increasing severity, and key communities along the coast were labeled to help viewers see exactly where impacts may occur. The result is a clear and intuitive map that reveals the increasing reach of future flooding under different climate scenarios.

What resonates most with me about this project is how it blends environmental science with human connection. Each color on the map reflects not only a physical change in the coastline but also the homes, businesses, and natural habitats that could be transformed. This work shows how thoughtful geographic analysis can support adaptation planning, community awareness, and climate resilience in a region already shaped by water.