WARREN, R.I. (WPRI) — A team of scientists from the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the town of Warren are working together to tackle the problems that come with rising sea levels. URI announced the team had received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation last week for the project. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that sea levels will rise 1.6 feet by 2050 and 2.29 feet by 2060. Warren and many other Rhode Island communities are considered "highly vulnerable" to the effects of rising tides due to their low elevations. RELATED: Parts of Barrington will be underwater by 2035 As previously reported by Target 12 in 2022, Warren's climate plan called for moving homeowners in the Market Street area to a new neighborhood the town would build on higher ground. URI said that, starting this fall, a team of scientists from different fields will be working with stakeholders in Warren to address worsening climate-related issues like flooding and salinization affecting coastal communities. Warren is one of a few communities selected for the project which is a collaboration between three states. The Little Creek and Delaware Bay beaches in Delaware and Edisto Island in South Carolina were also selected for the project. "These three states are among the top 10 low-lying states in the United States," said Emi Uchida, chair of URI's Department of Environmental Natural Resource Economics. "Finding solutions to this very complex problem requires experts with a range of expertise to provide the support and information necessary to enable community members to make important decisions." MORE: Frequent floods driving up insurance claims, payouts in RI In the future, URI said members of the community advisory boards in Delaware and South Carolina will visit Rhode Island to learn from Warren and "its plan for managed retreat." "These modelings will be done with similar approaches, covering three states for comparison," Uchida said. "What we can learn from each state is really what’s going to make this three-state collaboration meaningful." Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup SIGN UP NOW