Research about Bayou Chitigue;Big Thicket Np;Breton Nwr;Cedar Island Nwr;Everglades Np;Mcfaddin Nwr;Old Oyster Bayou;Rookery Bay Nerr;St. Marks Nwr;Ten Thousand Islands Np;Three Bayous;Tijuana Slough Nwr

Coastal wetlands and global change: overview

The potential impacts of climate change are of great practical concern to those interested in coastal wetland resources. Among the areas of greatest risk in the United States are low-lying coastal habitats with easily eroded substrates which occur along the northern Gulf of Mexico and southeast Atlantic coasts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have identified coastal wetlands as ecosystems most vulnerable to direct, large-scale impacts of climate change, primarily because of their sensitivity to increases in sea-level rise.