Climate change as a matter of fact: Great Marsh, Cape Cod, MA
Reported in In the Great Marsh and other coastal wetlands, climate change is harming delicate ecosystems . (Boston Globe , 6/1/2019) Wetlands such as these are also crucial buffers against the damaging effects of rising sea levels from climate change. Yet the very forces unleashed by global warming are pounding away at the Great Marsh and other saltwater wetlands: higher tides — more than 8 inches here over the past century — and a 20 percent increase in precipitation over roughly the same period. Fueled by more powerful storms, such as the succession of nor’easters that pummeled the region in recent winters, rising tides have intensified coastal erosion and threatened beachside properties. On Plum Island, a thin, 11-mile-long barrier of sand, a series of winter storms in 2013 destroyed six homes and damaged dozens of others. More storms last year washed away dunes, flooded 20 homes, and left about 10 others at risk of falling into the ocean. Related links: Great Mar...