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State and local governments plan for development of most land vulnerable to rising sea level along the US Atlantic coast*

J G Titus1, D E Hudgens2, D L Trescott3, M Craghan4, W H Nuckols5, C H Hershner6, J M Kassakian2, C J Linn7, P G Merritt8, T M McCue9, J F O'Connell10,13, J Tanski11 and J Wang12

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Rising sea level threatens existing coastal wetlands. Overall ecosystems could often survive by migrating inland, if adjacent lands remained vacant. On the basis of 131 state and local land use plans, we estimate that almost 60% of the land below 1 m along the US Atlantic coast is expected to be developed and thus unavailable for the inland migration of wetlands. Less than 10% of the land below 1 m has been set aside for conservation. Environmental regulators routinely grant permits for shore protection structures (which block wetland migration) on the basis of a federal finding that these structures have no cumulative environmental impact. Our results suggest that shore protection does have a cumulative impact. If sea level rise is taken into account, wetland policies that previously seemed to comply with federal law probably violate the Clean Water Act.


 
For more information on this article, see environmentalresearchweb.org
Footnote
*  The opinions expressed in this letter do not necessarily reflect the official positions of either the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, any state or national Sea Grant Program, or the US Government.
PACS

92.40.Yy Wetlands

93.30.Hf North America

93.30.Mj Atlantic Ocean

89.60.Fe Environmental regulations

91.50.Cw Beach, coastal, and shelf processes

92.70.Jw Oceans

Subjects

Environmental and Earth science

Dates

Issue 4 (October-December 2009)

Received 7 April 2009, accepted for publication 7 July 2009

Published 27 October 2009


A Perspective for this article has been published in 2009 Environ. Res. Lett. 4 041001


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