National Wildlife Federation Warns About Global Warming and the Chesapeake Bay

The National Wildlife Federation has issued a warning about the effects of global warming on the Chesapeake Bay. They are calling for a major change in the way the land is managed in the bay to insure the protection of some of the nation's best hunting and fishing grounds.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation states that if something is not done to address the issue of global warming, all the years of work that has gone into saving the bay may be lost. There is no miracle that will save the bay from the adverse effects of global warming. They need action from all levels of government.

Right now, both the United Nations and the Bush Administration are holding meetings on climate change this week, and a Senate committee will hear testimony on how the effects of global warming will impact on the Chesapeake Bay.

According to the report:

The rapidly rising sea levels will flood the coastal marshes as well as the other habitats and make the coastal land more vulnerable.

Because the air and the water are becoming warmer, the composition of the bay's ecosystem will change and this will lead to the creation of larger and worse dead zones as well as harmful algal bloom. It will also encourage the spread of different marine diseases and the growth of invasive species like nutria.

There will be more extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, storms and heat waves that will make the polluted runoff into the Chesapeake Bay worse than ever and there by altar water quality and make what is not now a pleasant place to enjoy the outdoors, totally miserable.

Because there will be climate changes taking place all over America, there will be an effect on the breading grounds as well as the migration patterns of waterfowl, leading to fewer birds coming to the bay each year.

In the long run, these events will threaten the long term survival of many of the native species of fish and wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay.

The wildlife and fish in the Chesapeake Bay can have a better chance to survive the effects of global warming if the various agencies enact policies that discourage extensive costal development, figure in the anticipated rise in the sea level and the other factors into land conservation and efforts to restore the animal's habitats. They also mention the importance of improving the stormwater management practices and adapting new waterfowl and fish management policies to take into consideration the trends in species distribution and population that will be a result of global warming.

In order to achieve these goals, the NFW calls on the governments to enact the policies necessary to reduce global warming emissions by 2% per year for the nest 40 years and to also provide for adequate funding for the various wildlife agencies whose responsibility it is to protect the natural resources in the Chesapeake Bay.

Source: National Wildlife Federation http://www.newswise.com