Federal funding cuts to University of Hawai‘i threaten work on sea level, climate research

A recent round of federal funding cuts is expected to impact the University of Hawai‘i’s modeling of sea level rise impacts, which could result in the loss of accurate climate projections, university officials fear.

This funding cut could impact a $3 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, which was awarded to Chip Fletcher, interim dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, to support the Coastal Research Collaborative.

The collaborative provides data and high-resolution modeling of sea level rise impacts, heat exposure and precipitation extremes—critical tools that inform decisions made by state and county agencies, urban planners, infrastructure designers, and emergency managers.

“The loss of federal funding for Hawaiʻi’s climate and sea level rise research will have devastating consequences for the state’s ability to plan, adapt and protect its people and resources,” said Fletcher.

“The models we develop and their supporting databases underpin key pieces of Hawaiʻi’s climate legislation and coastal permitting regulations, including assessments of flood risk, groundwater inundation, coastal erosion, coastal construction setbacks and public safety. Without sustained federal investment, Hawaiʻi will lose its capacity to provide accurate climate projections tailored to island topography, severely hampering our preparedness for compound hazards such as king tides, rain-at-high-tide flooding and storm-driven flooding.”

The Coastal Research Collaborative employed 15 people, including graduate students, climate researchers, policy experts and geospatial analysts. To prepare for and adapt to the growing threats related to climate change in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region, this team gathered data and developed new modeling tools that reduce vulnerabilities to community and infrastructure on the island of Oʻahu.

Specifically, the CRC team has been modeling the impacts of sea level rise including flooding, coastal erosion, drainage failure, wave impacts at higher sea level and groundwater pollution with higher sea level.

Various state laws and policies rely on the collaborative’s data and models: construction setbacks on Maui, Kauaʻi, and Honolulu; mandatory disclosure of sea level rise impacts in real estate transactions; Special Management Area designations on Maui and Oʻahu; Kauai County sea level rise constraint district; and the required analysis of sea level rise impacts in state Environmental Policy Act, including environmental impact statements and environmental assessment permits.

“The loss of these data systems will undermine the scientific foundation of climate resilience policies, stall progress on community adaptation, and increase the vulnerability of coastal populations, public infrastructure, and cultural heritage,” Fletcher said. “Maintaining federal support is not just about sustaining science—it is about safeguarding Hawaiʻi’s future.”