In 2020, we saw clear signs that the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is working: less nitrogen and phosphorus, a smaller dead zone, and improving water clarity. But favorable weather conditions also played a role, and the Bay’s recovery remains fragile.
Is the Chesapeake Bay in good condition?
Researchers from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) note that the Chesapeake Bay showed moderate health in 2020, improving from a C- in 2019 to a C, while the watershed encompassing the Bay remains in good health, earning a B-, the same score as last year.
What is the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay?
Overall, the Chesapeake Bay earned a score of 45%, up slightly from 44% in 2019. Dissolved oxygen levels, or how much oxygen is in the water, were “very good” for the Chesapeake Bay overall and in most individual areas, although the Mid Bay, Upper Eastern Shore, York River scored slightly lower in the 60-80% range.
Are there dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay?
Where Are the Dead Zones in the Chesapeake Bay? Dead zones form in both the Bay’s mainstem and its tidal rivers, typically in deeper water near the bottom. The location, extent, and severity of the dead zones can change throughout the year, usually peaking during the summer months.
How the Chesapeake Bay is 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 Chesapeake Bay improving?
Across the bay, the 67,470 acres mapped in 2021 shows underwater grasses increased by 7% from the 2020 total of 63,132 acres. The acres mapped in 2021 is 52% of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s 2025 restoration target of 130,000 acres, according to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).
What is the current state of the Chesapeake Bay?
Region: Overall. Moderate ecosystem health (C). The overall Chesapeake Bay scored a 50%, a five percent increase over last year’s score. Overall, Bay health showed a slightly improving trend from 1986−2021.
Is the Chesapeake Bay 40 lifeless?
All is not well in the water, though. At one point, a character comments that “40 percent of the bay is a dead zone” and mentions algae, nutrient runoff and a host of other contaminants, including mercury, endocrine disruptors and Viagra.
How Clean Is Chesapeake Bay?
The Chesapeake Bay has been on EPA’s “dirty waters” list for decades. According to the Clean Water Act, states must develop a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) specifying the maximum pollution levels allowable to meet water quality standards for all waters identified on their “dirty waters” list.
How polluted is the Chesapeake Bay?
Here in the watershed, we see the impact of NO2 in acid rain which harms the Bay’s ecosystem. In fact, each year more than 85 million pounds of nitrogen pollution—about one-third of the bay’s total yearly load—comes from the air.
Where is the largest marine dead zone in the US?
June outlook foretold New Jersey-sized area of low oxygen
Scientists have determined this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone,” an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life, is 8,776 square miles, an area about the size of New Jersey. It is the largest measured since dead zone mapping began there in 1985.
What is the largest dead zone in the world?
The largest dead zone in the world lies in the Arabian Sea, covering almost the entire 63,700-square mile Gulf of Oman. The second largest sits in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States, averaging almost 6,000 square miles in size.
What is the current status of the crab and oyster harvest in the Chesapeake Bay?
Even with population growth, however, some areas continue to experience overfishing. Virginia’s total wild oyster harvests have remained stable at around 600,000 bushels for the past several years, partly due to a rotational harvest system.
Is the Chesapeake Bay sinking?
Oceans rise at an average rate of six inches every 100 years. Sea level in the Chesapeake Bay rises at a faster rate than average because the land underneath the bay is sinking.
What is the most impactful change that has happened to the Chesapeake Bay?
Rising Sea Levels
Sea-level rise is exacerbated by land subsidence. This combination of processes in the Chesapeake Bay has resulted in approximately one foot of net sea-level rise in the Bay over the past 100 years—a rate nearly twice that of the global historic average.
How will climate change affect Maryland?
Sea level is rising more rapidly in Maryland than in most coastal areas because the land is sinking. If the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, sea level along the Maryland coast is likely to rise sixteen inches to four feet in the next century.
What things are being done to help the Chesapeake Bay?
Through Restoration
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is restoring native oysters, planting underwater grasses, and planting trees to restore the Bay’s natural filters.
Does the Chesapeake Bay freeze over?
It can and it has. In fact, the Chesapeake Bay has been documented as freezing over in winter months a good seven times since 1780 says Chesapeake Bay Magazine. The last time the surface of the Bay froze over was in the brutal winter of 1976-77, when roughly 85 percent of the Bay and its rivers and streams formed ice.
What is biting in the Chesapeake Bay?
Our primary targets are Cobia, Red Drum, Spanish Mackerel, and an assortment of bottom fish. This is by far some of the best fishing of the year as we chase the Cobia and Red Drum that average between 30 and 60lbs.
Can you swim in the Chesapeake Bay?
Despite these health concerns, beaches along the tidal rivers and the Chesapeake Bay are often safe for swimming, fishing and boating.
Are there sharks in the Chesapeake Bay?
The answer to the question is, yes. At least 12 species of sharks are known to visit parts of the Bay, and can be found here between summer and fall.