Domino Effect: The Myriad Impacts of Warming on an East Coast Estuary


Bombay Hook Wildlife Preserve, Delaware Bay. Photo source: ©© Michele Dorsay Walfred

Excerpts;

Delaware Bay provides a case study in how warming oceans, more severe storms, and sea-level rise are impacting estuaries around the world. The effects — from loss of wetlands to steep declines in shorebird populations — cascade throughout the ecosystem…

Read Full Article, Yale E360 (05-17-2017)

Chesapeake Bay, nation’s largest estuary, is finally getting healthier, CBS News (01-05-2017)

National Estuaries Week : Understanding Estuaries Vital Roles; Coastal Review (09-20-2016)

Study Reveals How Rivers Regulate Global Carbon Cycle; WHOI (05-13-2015)
Nature has its own methods for the removal and long-term storage of carbon, including the world’s river systems, which transport decaying organic material and eroded rock from land to the ocean…

NOAA Report Highlights Climate Change Threats To Nation’s Estuaries; NOAA (08-08-2013)
Estuaries are places where rivers meet the sea, providing nursery habitat for fish and shellfish while buffering many coastal communities from the impacts of coastal storms and sea level rise. The climate exposure of each reserve provides first alarm indicators about the effects of climate change on the coastal ecosystems.
The nation’s 28 National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) are experiencing the negative effects of human and climate-related stressors. Almost 40 percent of all Americans, or about 123 million people, live in the counties directly along the shoreline and depend on these resources for food, jobs, storm protection, and recreation…

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