Blue Carbon
In terms of providing protection from extreme events, coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves and dunes, can also, in certain circumstances, provide protection against storm surges by forming barriers along coastlines. Such ecosystems can act in a similar manner to breakwaters or shallow coasts. In this way, coastal ecosystems play a role in reducing the impacts of climate change (SDG13 take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts), particularly the increased frequency of storms and sea level rise. Importantly, recent studies have also found that salt marshes can adjust to sea-level rise and can reduce coastal erosion and increase accretion, depending on a range of site-specific variables, as a part of adaptation to climate change (Fagherazzi et al., 2013; Shepard et al., 2011).
Year: 2016
From collection: The Ocean and Us
Cartographer: Hisham Ashkar