State of the Coast Web Site
February 1998 - November 2001

On November 9, 2001, NOAA retired its State of the Coast Project Web site after 45 months on-line. Launched in February 1998 in response to then Vice President Gore's challenge that Federal agencies develop a "report card" on the state of the Nation's environment, the project produced 17 essays on a variety of coastal topics, three CD-ROMs, and a short video featuring former members and associates of the Stratton Commission. The essays remain available here as PDF files. The CD-ROMs and video are no longer available.

The essays were organized in a pressure, state and response framework. The "state" of the environment, the centerpiece of the framework, focuses on conditions of environmental systems. Conditions result from a combination of human-induced pressures on the environment and societal responses to environmental degradation. The essays are factual presentations; inferences are minimal.

To access an essay, click on its title below. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader (download Adobe Acrobat Reader) to view the essay. The date that an essay first appeared on the State of the Coast Web site follows its title in parentheses. Note that audio responses, previously available on the State of the Coast Web site in each essay's Expert Interpretation section, will not be available within PDF files.

Pressure Topics

• Population: Distribution, Density and Growth (February 1998) (pdf, 3.2 Mb)
• Population at Risk from Natural Hazards (July 1998) (pdf, 1.9 Mb)
• Ecological Effects of Fishing (September 1998) (pdf, 5.5 Mb)

State Topics

• The Extent and Condition of U.S. Coral Reefs (February 1998) (pdf, 3 Mb)
• Classified Shellfish Growing Waters (February 1998) (pdf, 2.3 Mb)
• Populations of Harvested Fishes and Invertebrates (February 1998) (pdf, 6.6 Mb)
• Chemical Contaminants in Oysters and Mussels (February 1998) (pdf, 2.6 Mb)
• Oxygen Depletion in Coastal Waters (July 1998) (pdf, 7.7 Mb)
• Harmful Algal Blooms (December 1999) (pdf, 1.4 Mb)
• Sediment Toxicity (February 2000) (pdf, 1000 K)
• Eutrophic Conditions in Estuarine Waters (July 2001) (pdf, 1.7Mb)

(top)

Response Topics

• Restoring Coastal Habitats (February 1998) (pdf, 956 K)
• Preserving Waterfronts for Water Dependent Uses (February 1998) (pdf, 3.2 Mb)
• Managing Spills of Oil and Chemical Materials (February 1998) (pdf, 3.9 Mb)
• Reducing the Impacts of Coastal Hazards (July 1998) (pdf, 1.8 Mb)
• Monitoring the Coastal Environment (February 1998) (pdf, 3.7 Mb)
• Managing Coastal Resources (July 1998) (pdf, 4.5 Mb)

For information about NOAA's State of the Coast Project, contact John Paul Tolson.