A changing climate will affect the Chesapeake Bay. Some effects—like rising seas, warming water temperatures and prolonged periods of extreme weather—have already been observed in the region. Other impacts include a rise in coastal flooding and shoreline erosion and changes in wildlife abundance and migration patterns.
What are the biggest factors affecting the Chesapeake Bay?
Unfortunately, the Chesapeake Bay faces serious problems due to human activities, including polluted stormwater runoff, over-fertilization and pollution from animal wastes, deforestation, wetland destruction from agricultural, urban, and suburban development, and sea level rise caused by global climate change.
How does sea level rise affect life in the Chesapeake Bay?
Sea level rise in the Chesapeake Bay will destroy the wetland habitats of many birds, fish, shellfish and plants. Human populations and structures are also at risk. In many low-lying areas, farms and homes will have to be relocated as the bay floods the land.
What is polluting the Chesapeake Bay?
Humans are directly responsible for the excess nutrients that enter and damage the Chesapeake. This nutrient pollution comes from fertilizing lawns, gardens, and farms. Nutrient pollution also comes from urban sources, including exhaust from automobiles, wastewater, septic systems, and stormwater runoff.
What are the effects of climate change in Maryland?
More obvious impacts could include an increased risk for extreme events such as drought, storms, flooding, and forest fires; more heat-related stress; the spread of existing or new vector-born disease; and increased erosion and inundation of low-lying areas along the State’s shoreline and coast.
What is causing the most pollution in the Chesapeake Bay?
Nitrogen. Airborne nitrogen is one of the largest sources of pollution affecting the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Excess nitrogen can fuel the growth of algae blooms, which can block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses and create low-oxygen “dead zones” that suffocate marine life.
What are the 3 main contributors to the poor health of the Chesapeake Bay?
There are three major contributors to the poor health of our streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay—nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus fuel unnaturally high levels of algae growth in the water, blocking sunlight from reaching underwater grasses that serve as food and habitat.
Is the Chesapeake Bay warming?
Chesapeake Bay warming Chesapeake Bay has warmed three to four times faster in summer than winter since 1985. Surface and bottom waters are generally warming at a similar rate throughout the Bay, except for a slightly elevated rate of bottom warming in the saltier waters near its mouth.
Is the Chesapeake Bay getting warmer?
The Chesapeake Bay is warming. Researchers are finding out why—and what a hotter future means. Water temperatures in the Chesapeake Bay are getting hotter, and not just because it’s summer. Over the past 35 years, average temperatures in the Bay have been trending upward faster than the oceans at large.
How long until Maryland is underwater?
Studies show that sea levels are already rising around Maryland. Scientists have forecasted an increase of as much as 2.1 feet in the Chesapeake Bay by 2050. And by the end of this century, that number could be 3.7 feet or higher.
When did the Chesapeake Bay become polluted?
Summary: Humans began measurably and negatively impacting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century, according to a study of eastern oysters.
How much of the Chesapeake Bay is polluted?
According to data submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2016, 82 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s tidal segments are partially or fully impaired by toxic contaminants.
Is Chesapeake Bay a dead zone?
Plant and animal life are often unable to survive in this environment, which is why the area is referred to as a “dead zone”. The main way in which nutrients can enter the Bay is through polluted runoff flowing from its tributaries around the watershed.
Is Maryland safe from climate change?
Today, Maryland averages 10 days a year when heat exceeds dangerous levels. By 2050, the state is projected to experience 40 danger days a year. Heat itself is one of the leading weather-related killers, and it’s also a significant contributing factor in creating ground-level ozone, which is a serious health hazard.
Why is Maryland getting so much rain?
The Allegheny Mountains contribute to the higher precipitation and heavy snowfall on the Allegheny Plateau. Precipitation in the form of rain or snow is increased in storms or air masses that ascend the mountains from the Ohio Valley.
Is Maryland getting wetter?
Maryland’s climate is trending towards warmer and wetter conditions with more extreme weather events. Temperatures have already risen about 2.5°F, and the number of very hot days (maximum temperature over 95°F) has increased.
How can we save the Chesapeake Bay?
Five ways volunteers can help protect the Chesapeake Bay
- Pick up trash. Litter is often one of the most visible forms of pollution we encounter in our day-to-day lives.
- Plant a tree.
- Be a citizen scientist.
- Support wildlife.
- Educate others.
How can we stop pollution in the Chesapeake Bay?
Consider carpooling, using public transportation, biking or walking whenever possible. Reduce Electricity – Coal-burning power plants are among the largest sources of nitrogen compounds in air pollution. Grab a Friend and Volunteer – Cleaning up the Bay begins in your hometown.
What are the effects of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay?
Polluted runoff not only causes low oxygen “dead zones” in the Chesapeake, which suffocate marine life such as crabs, oysters, and fish, it can also contaminate private drinking wells.
How is climate change affecting freshwater fishing?
The habitats of freshwater fish species are threatened by global warming, mainly due to rising water temperatures. A 3.2-degree Celsius increase in global mean temperature would threaten more than half of the habitat for one third of all freshwater fish species.
How will climate change affect fishing?
Climate change could wipe out 60% of all fish species, new research suggests. If average global temperatures rise by five degrees Celsius, that could mean almost two-thirds of global fish species could be eradicated by 2100. Previous studies predicted fish would be more resilient to climate change.