Like other risk management strategies, effective sea level rise response must suit local socio-ecological contexts. These include particular civic discourses, perceptions of agency, and analytic deliberation, the latter integrating scientific information with local knowledge and social values. We describe three cases in eastern North Carolina, in the southeastern United States, with differing conceptions of economic development, environmental change, governance, property rights, and social collectivities. On the flat coastal plain and barrier islands, wetland conservation, soft engineering, and other coastal zone management options can protect shorelines from flooding and erosion, whereas hard engineered structures can cause long term problems. Fearing that scientific information would lower real estate values, a well-financed advocacy group averted public discussion of proactive policy by deploying discursive and legislative strategies to suppress scientific decision support. We find that a study site with high financial resources showed the most resistance to science-based adaptation in the public interest, whereas a study site with minimal financial resources was the most receptive. Ideology proves to be a significant consideration in the framing of information to advance coastal policy.

与其他风险管理策略一样，有效的海平面上升响应必须适合当地的社会生态环境。其中包括特定的公民话语、对能动性的看法和分析性审议，后者将科学信息与当地知识和社会价值相结合。我们描述了美国东南部北卡罗来纳州东部的三个案例，它们具有不同的经济发展、环境变化、治理、产权和社会集体概念。在平坦的沿海平原和屏障岛屿上，湿地保护、软工程和其他沿海地区管理选项可以保护海岸线免受洪水和侵蚀，而硬工程结构可能会导致长期问题。担心科学信息会降低房地产价值，一个资金充足的倡导团体通过部署话语和立法策略来压制科学决策支持，从而避免了对积极政策的公开讨论。我们发现，具有高财务资源的研究地点对公共利益的基于科学的适应表现出最大的抵制，而财务资源最少的研究地点最容易接受。意识形态被证明是制定信息以推进沿海政策的重要考虑因素。