Extreme Weather Events Accelerating Tidal Wetland Loss

Tidal wetlands are critical, yet vulnerable ecosystems. Tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and tidal flats support biodiversity, protect against flooding and storm surges, sequester carbon, and improve water quality.

Due to human development and climate change, tidal wetland areas have been shrinking globally. A new study using 40 years of satellite data shows that this loss has been accelerating in the U.S. and that this acceleration is being increasingly driven by extreme weather events.

This work was led by Xiucheng Yang, a former UConn postdoctoral researcher and current senior research fellow at the University of Victoria, and Zhe Zhu, an associate professor and director of Global Environmental Remote Sensing (GERS) Laboratory in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR). The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Read more at: University of Connecticut

Source: ENN