Coastal Wetlands Likely to Disappear This Century

Brian Cary

"Many Coastal Wetlands Likely to Disappear This Century, Scientists Say" is an article posted in Science Daily on December 3, 2010. This article discusses how wetlands across the globe will be impacted by climate change and sea-level rise. According to U.S. Geological Survey scientists, rapid sea-level rise scenarios show that most wetlands located along coasts will be destroyed by the end of the 21st century. Slow sea-level rise projections show that there would be a chance of survival for some wetlands, but survival would be determined by sediment availability in these wetlands. The higher the sediment in the wetland, the greater the chance of survival. This is because water floods the wetland, causing sediment to be carried upstream and raise the wetlands elevation. The rate at which sea level rises is mostly dependent on future climate changes. Wetlands are primarily important to the environment because they play a critical part in absorbing the energy of coastal storms, which is a direct effect on the safety of humans. They also act as a habitat for migratory birds, preserve shorelines, and absorb water pollutants. I believe this article relates to this course because it involves things that we have discussed such as climate change, air pollution, and the relationship between sediment deposit and water flow. I believe the most important aspect that this article touches on though is how much damage mankind seems to be doing on its own environment. Wetlands serve a very important purpose in our ecosystem, especially along coastlines, and the thought of complete wetland extinction within the next 90 years is scary. It shows just how fast change can happen in the ecosystem, even on a global scale. The biggest effect on us humans would likely be the loss of a energy absorbing buffer zone between us and coastal storms as they begin to hit land. Without wetlands, these storms will hit with more force and potentially do much more damage to our coastal cities. Almost every part of our ecosystem would be negatively effected by the loss of wetlands. Humans do have the ability to make a change for the better, though. As we learned earlier this semester, 28% of greenhouse gas emissions which lead to climate change are created by human transportation and another 5% is from residential use. These numbers that any ordinary person can help cut down on and help preserve not only our wetlands, but all of our bodies of water.

United States Geological Survey (2010, December 3). Many coastal wetlands likely to disappear this century, scientists say.ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2010/12/101201134256.htm