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Posted on January 23rd, 2013 in Climate Impacts, Coastal Pollution, Ecosystem Management, Invasive Species, Marine Spatial Planning, Sea Level Rise
The U.S. benefits from a wealth of resources and activities that depend on healthy coastal habitats. However, these habitats are being degraded by extensive hardening of shorelines due to climate-driven sea level rise, increasing shoreline development, land use changes in coastal watersheds, pollution, and invasions of non-native species. In the Mid-Atlantic region alone, coastal development [...]
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Posted on January 21st, 2013 in Climate Impacts, Ecosystem Management, Marine Spatial Planning, Sea Level Rise
The threat of sea level rise and storminess poses many management challenges in North Carolina due to low elevation, extensive barrier islands and vulnerability to coastal storms. The long-term North Carolina Sea Level Rise Project, part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise (EESLR) program, has developed modeling and [...]
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Posted on November 20th, 2012 in Climate Impacts, Ecosystem Management, Human Dimensions, News Clips, Sea Level Rise
Project-of-the-Year Awards Showcase Program Successes Congratulations to the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program(ESTCP) Projects of the Year, recognized for research and technology developments with significant benefits to the Department of Defense (DoD). These outstanding efforts are helping DoD achieve its mission while improving its environmental performance. Resource [...]
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Posted on July 2nd, 2012 in Ecological Forecasts & Tools, Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia & Eutrophication, Outreach, Restoration Support, Sea Level Rise
The importance of the Gulf of Mexico to the US economy is significant. The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science has invested over $66M in public funds for research into harmful algal blooms, nutrient over-enrichment contributions to hypoxia, ecological effects of sea level rise (EESLR), and coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico since 1990. [...]
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Posted on March 2nd, 2012 in Climate Impacts, Ecosystem Management, Marine Spatial Planning, Outreach, Sea Level Rise
Management agencies are struggling to balance the pressures of coastal development with the conservation and protection of the coastal environment. Representatives of several management groups convened on February 29 to review progress on a NCCOS project studying the ecosystem effects of shoreline hardening, and offer suggestions on linking research results to regional management and policy. This marked the second [...]
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Posted on October 27th, 2011 in Climate Impacts, Sea Level Rise
An NCCOS-funded researcher updated his innovative coastal marsh model and provided an interactive web based application. The web accessible zero-dimensional Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM III) provides users a hands-on tool to simulate how a tidal marsh community interacts with the physical environment to maintain its functionality under various sea level rise scenarios. Dr. James Morris [...]
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Posted on September 25th, 2011 in Coastal Pollution, Hypoxia & Eutrophication, Sea Level Rise, Wetland Carbon Sequestration
Humans have dramatically increased the nitrogen load to coastal systems leading to eutrophication. Putting a monetary value on an ecosystem’s ability to remove nitrogen is effective for communicating the significance of often overlooked shallow water systems that are in decline due to sea level rise, urbanization and bulkhead construction. Using the common regionally derived dollar [...]
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Posted on August 24th, 2010 in Climate Impacts, Sea Level Rise
Sea Level Rise (SLR) is potentially detrimental to coastal habitats and human settlements along the coast, particularly on the U.S. Gulf Coast where coastal habitats support the majority of its commercial industry. Local resource managers must adjust their plans to protect and preserve the resources under their care. NCCOS is funding a team led by [...]
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