By ecoRI News staff
Rapid climate change and an increasing range of climate
impacts are already being felt along the U.S. coast, and new research suggests
that Northeast coastal waters may be more vulnerable to climate change and
ocean acidification than previously thought.
A team of scientists with the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
recently received a $1 million grant from The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation to develop science-based climate-change adaptation
solutions for coastal communities and to partner with organizations to help
these communities anticipate change and prepare to adapt.
The multi-pronged research project pairs WHOI scientists
with regional organizations actively involved in three interrelated coastal
ocean climate impacts areas that are affecting many coastal communities in
southern New England: sea-level rise and coastal flooding; coastal water
quality and ocean acidification; and ocean climate warming and fisheries.
The project focuses specifically on the coastal waters of
Buzzards Bay and adjacent ocean continental shelf off southern New England, but
many of the lessons learned will be applicable broadly to coastal communities
of the Northeast and entire eastern seaboard. Partnering organizations include
the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and
The Nature Conservancy.
Additionally, scientists will work with Princeton
University colleague Ning Lin, who will provide modeling for many of the most
extreme historic hurricanes impacting Buzzards Bay and simulations to assess
the protective services provided by coastal wetlands and potential artificial
reefs in the bay.
A goal of this project is to apply emerging scientific
concepts and tools to empower local communities and stakeholder groups — the
general public, NGOs, businesses, the academic community, policymakers, and
local, state and federal resource managers — with the information they need to
make planning and infrastructure decisions to better deal with a changing climate.
Rising waters
Future rates of sea-level rise are projected to increase significantly in the coming decades. Further, there is an expected increase in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes.
“With the MacArthur grant we will be translating the results
of our studies aimed at better understanding the risk associated with future
changes in sea level and tropical cyclones in the communities within Buzzards
Bay,” said Jeff Donnelly, a hurricane expert in the Coastal Systems Group at
WHOI. “In addition to developing tools to help translate the scientific results
to decision-makers and the general public, we are partnering with The Nature
Conservancy to better understand whether or not the creation of artificial
reefs might mitigate the impacts of storm surge associated with hurricanes.”
Coastal water quality
Although there is rich historical data on nutrient pollution in Buzzards Bay, there has been little monitoring to date on acidification, which stands to have an impact on regional shellfish production.
Building on an existing citizen
scientist monitoring network run by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the coastal water quality
and ocean acidification work will expand new field sampling and synthesis
capabilities to assess the impact of multiple stressors on coastal ecosystems.
The team will use the data to develop and test
alternative management strategies to improve degraded coastal waters,
identifying locations particularly vulnerable to climate-related change, and
enabling better long-term planning.
Climate and fisheries
Ocean climate warming and fisheries work will develop connections between the commercial fleet, scientists and decision-makers, and will expand the capability to cost-effectively monitor changes in ocean temperature and salinity and understand how these changes impact the ecosystem.
Commercial fishermen will be provided with and trained in
the use of oceanographic sampling equipment to take weekly measurements of
temperature and salinity through the water column. The scientists and the
fishing fleet will communicate regularly about the impacts of these physical
changes through the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, an organization
that has managed numerous industry-motivated research programs and hosted
meetings between scientists and the fishing community.
“Temperature changes have been large and unprecedented on
both seasonal and year-to-year time scales, and this data will provide great
insights into how rapidly the coastal ocean is changing,” said Glen
Gawarkiewicz, a WHOI coastal oceanographer.