San Juan Bay Estuary is on the north shore of the main island of Puerto Rico. In the estuary, fresh water from rivers that run off the land mix with waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary—known across the territory as a recreation destination and a positive factor for economic growth—is home to critical tropical habitats such as mangrove forests, coral communities, and seagrass beds.
Increasingly accessible resources in the Arctic region have caught the imagination of potential developers. For instance, exploration geologists believe the North Slope of Alaska and the seas around it hold some of the largest remaining deposits of oil, gas, and coal in the United States. Additionally, the region provides habitat for a diverse array of fish, wildlife, and plant resources. A range of individuals and companies are eager to build businesses based on the region’s rich resources.
Rapid warming in the Arctic is reducing the extent of annual sea ice, especially during the long days of summer. The change to more open water can have negative impacts on traditional hunting practices and ice-adapted marine ecosystems, but the receding ice also increases access for ships and creates new opportunities for offshore development. As trans-Arctic shipping, oil and gas exploration, and tourism increase in the region, the risk to people and ecosystems from oil spills and other drilling and maritime-related accidents increases as well.
The deep snow of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains—known well by skiers across the country and around the world—is also the main source of water for the state. Most of the 5.3 million residents of Colorado depend on the snow received in winter to meet their year-round needs for water in their homes and businesses. Likewise, most of the Colorado residents involved in agriculture rely on winter snowpack to become spring runoff and eventually be delivered to them as irrigation; this water is necessary for them to produce crops and livestock.
Sea level rise may not be not eating away at Colorado’s borders, but climate change exposes other critical vulnerabilities in the state. For instance, rising temperatures will likely take a toll on cattle and crops, and could increase the frequency of events when junior water rights holders receive little water.
The Florida morning was cool and damp; raindrops from a predawn shower shone on the strawberry leaves like little cabochon diamonds. Ferris Farms General Manager Dudley Calfee, surveying his strawberry crop, knew that if the weather warmed up before the raindrops dried, fruit rot could take hold. Instead of gleaming red berries to take to market, he would have the moldy grey fuzz of a disaster on his hands. The subtropical climate of Florida makes growing strawberries a constant battle against at least two kinds of fruit rot: anthracnose and Botrytis.
Since the late 1800s, farmers in Oregon have been building dikes across estuarine wetlands to keep water off the land, increasing the amount of land available to them for growing crops and raising livestock. An unintended effect of the dikes was to reduce marshland habitat used by fish and wildlife populations. Today, sea level rise is threatening to breach the dikes, and rising tides are squeezing remaining natural wetlands out of existence.