Showing papers by "Donald F. Boesch published in 2000"
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that coastal and marine ecosystems support diverse and important fisheries throughout the nation’s waters, hold vast storehouses of biological diversity, and provide unparalleled recreational opportunities.
Abstract: Coastal and marine ecosystems support diverse and important fisheries throughout the nation’s waters, hold vast storehouses of biological diversity, and provide unparalleled recreational opportunities. Some 53% of the total U.S. population live on the 17% of land in the coastal zone, and these areas become more crowded every year. Demands on coastal and marine resources are
rapidly increasing, and as coastal areas become more developed, the vulnerability of human settlements to hurricanes, storm surges, and flooding events also increases.
Coastal and marine environments are intrinsically linked to climate in many ways. The ocean is an important distributor of the planet’s heat, and this distribution could be strongly influenced by changes in global climate over the 21st century. Sea-level rise is projected to accelerate during the 21st century, with dramatic impacts in low-lying regions where subsidence and erosion problems already exist. Many other impacts of climate change on the oceans are difficult to project, such as the effects on ocean temperatures and precipitation patterns, although the potential consequences of various changes can be assessed to a degree. In other instances, research is demonstrating that global changes may already be significantly impacting marine ecosystems, such as the impact of increasing nitrogen on coastal waters and the direct effect of increasing carbon dioxide on coral reefs.
Coastal erosion is already a widespread problem in much of the country and has significant impacts on undeveloped shorelines as well as on coastal development and infrastructure. Along the Pacific Coast, cycles of beach and cliff erosion have been linked to El Nino events that elevate average sea levels over the short term and alter storm tracks that affect erosion and wave damage along the
coastline. These impacts will be exacerbated by long-term sea-level rise. Atlantic and Gulf coastlines are especially vulnerable to long-term sea-level rise as well as any increase in the frequency of storm surges or hurricanes. Most erosion events here are the result of storms and extreme events, and the slope of these areas is so gentle that a small rise in sea level produces a large inland shift
of the shoreline. When buildings, roads and seawalls block this natural migration, the beaches and shorelines erode, threatening property and infrastructure as well as coastal ecosystems.
77 citations
TL;DR: Monitoring of the environmental conditions, ecosystem health, and human health risks is critically important to the adaptive management of the Chesapeake Bay but can be more effective if it more directly addressed the multiple uses of the resulting information, applied new technologies, and were more effectively integrated across environmental media, among resources, over space and time scales.
51 citations
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: Boesch et al. as mentioned in this paper presented the potential consequences of climate variability and change on coastal areas and marine resources, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on marine resources.
Abstract: The following document can be cited as: Boesch, D.F., J.C. Field, and D. Scavia, (Eds.) 2000. The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change on Coastal Areas and Marine Resources: Report of the Coastal Areas and Marine Resources Sector Team, U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, U.S. Global Change Research Program. NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. #21. NOAA Coastal Ocean Program, Silver Spring, MD. 163 pp.
49 citations
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The reduction of nutrient over-enrichment (eutrophication) is the most important undertaking in the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and efforts toward this end are guided and evaluated through extensive use of linked simulation models of the airshed, watershed and estuary as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The reduction of nutrient over-enrichment (eutrophication) is the most important undertaking in the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Efforts toward this end are guided and evaluated though extensive use of linked simulation models of the airshed, watershed and estuary. These models track the inputs of nutrients through the watershed and into the bay and predict the consequences to water quality and estuarine food chains. As the Chesapeake Bay Program moves beyond an important milestone—the year 2000—watershed models will have to perform effectively on smaller scales in order to effectively guide land use and waste management decisions. Estuary models will have to more effectively address the effects on higher trophic levels. Advancements in both the watershed and estuary models require a closer coupling among modeling, monitoring and research.