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Sea level rise will jeopardize valuable UK salt marshes by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, according to an international study co-signed by a professor from Rutgers University-New Brunswick. According to the study published in Nature Communications Southern and Eastern England is facing a high risk of loss by 2040.
The study is the first to estimate the vulnerability of salt marshes using geological data of past losses.
An international team of scientists led by former Professor Benjamin Horton of Rutgers-New Brunswick, now Interim Chair and Professor at the Asian School of the Environment at the Technological University from Nanyang, found that In the past, sea levels have resulted in increased waterlogging of salt marshes in the region, destroying the vegetation that protects them from erosion. The study is based on data from 800 salt marsh soil cores. Tidal marshes rank among the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth.
"In 2100, if we continue on a high-emission trajectory, all British salt marshes will face a high risk of loss. Said Robert E. Kopp, co-author of the study, professor at the Department of Earth Sciences and Planets of Rutgers-New Brunswick and director of the Rutgers Institute of Earth Sciences, the ocean and the atmosphere. Kopp led the development of projections of sea-level rise.
"Salt marshes, also called coastal wetlands, are important because they provide vital ecosystem services," he said. Horton. "They serve as a buffer against coastal storms to protect the continent and a filter for pollutants to decontaminate our fresh water. We are also losing an important hotspot of biodiversity. Salt marshes are important transitional habitats between the 39, ocean and land, and a nursery area for The point to remember from this paper is the speed with which we will lose these ecologically and economically important coastal areas in the 21st century. "
While As the study focuses on British salt marshes, the counterpart in tropical environments such as Singapore, mangroves are as vulnerable to sea-level rise as salt marshes.
"What is unknown is the tipping point that will cause the disintegration of mangroves in Singapore and elsewhere in Southeast Asia" Horton said. "We are currently collecting data to address the future vulnerability of mangroves to sea level rise."
