Bainbridge Island Sea Level Rise Visualization

Sea level rise is - on a human timescale- fairly slow, and while some places, like low-lying coastal areas, are already seeing dramatic impacts, it can also feel a bit like the adage of the frog in the pot of slowly heating water- you don't know how much trouble you are in until you get there, and if you wait that long, you may be too late to do much about it. How do we make it easier to visualize what sea level rise means for our Island community? EcoAdapt is working on approaches that make it easier to visualize and grasp what sea level rise might look like for us.

EcoAdapt partnered with Hyla High School and Washington State Ferries to create a series of sea level rise graphics in the overhead walkway at the Bainbridge Ferry Terminal. Passengers walking on to the ferry encounter a series of three panels that show present-day, 2050, and 2100 projections of sea level rise. A poster in the ferry terminal and QR codes embedded in the graphics link to additional information that was created by Hyla High School teacher James Rufo Hill and his students that provides more information about sea level rise in Puget Sound and how we might respond.

You can also read more about this project in this article by the Bainbridge Review.

We are grateful to the Washington State Ferries Office of Sustainability for their enthusiastic support and collaboration, to the Bainbridge Community Foundation for support of this work and to Sustainable Bainbridge for funding the installation of this sign.

EcoAdapt is working on additional ways to help our Island community visualize sea level rise- stay tuned to this page for more art projects to come!