Photo Roundup - Earth Day 2023 Special Issue
Every day, scientists across the USGS strive to provide robust scientific data, knowledge, and tools that can be used by citizens across our nation to make decisions about how to best invest in our planet. Explore some of these case studies from wetlands to reefs in this Sound Waves multimedia roundup.
Climate Science Champions
Researchers from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center are featured in "Climate Science Champions", an engaging video series that highlights the diverse expertise and innovative problem-solving that USGS scientists bring to bear when addressing a defining challenge of our time: climate change.
Learn more about carbonate chemistry in coral reef ecosystems.
Global Assessment Reveals Reef Hypoxia
An international team of researchers, led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, including USGS Research Oceanographer Dr. Kim Yates investigated the state of hypoxia—or low oxygen levels—on 32 different coral reef sites around the world. The team found that hypoxia is already occurring in many locations and is expected to worsen with rising oceans temperatures. These data provide a critical first step in establishing baseline reef oxygen conditions, classifying future hypoxic events, and predicting the future effects of hypoxia on coral reef ecosystems.
Wetland Restoration for Climate Change Mitigation
Coastal wetlands provide numerous ecosystem services like helping to mitigate climate change by storing large quantities of atmospheric carbon in their soil and plants. However, when wetlands are drained or impounded due to human activities, it disrupts tidal exchange and alters the wetland’s hydrology, negatively affecting soil accretion and the overall elevation of the wetland—a real concern in the face of sea-level rise. A recent study shows that restoring tidal exchange in impounded coastal wetlands can enhance their elevation resilience and climate change mitigation benefits.
Coastal Science for All
The USGS was proud to be an exhibitor and sponsor at the Coastal Sediments Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April 2023. The team provided coastal science resources, discussed employment opportunities and postdoc information, and highlighted the bureau’s commitment to ensuring USGS science is accessible to diverse audiences to help address coastal resilience challenges in our changing world.
Informing Dredging to Curb Erosion
Major rivers such as the Columbia-Snake River system are ancient conduits for commerce, carrying millions of tons of international trade each year. The Columbia River also carries a lot of sediment from the interior: As North America's largest river by volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean, every year the Columbia transports an estimated 5 million tons of sediment downstream. A new USGS study examines sediment transport adjacent to the Columbia River Mouth to track how strategically placed dredged material can resupply sand to nearby beaches, thereby addressing erosion.
Coastal Change Likelihood
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, developed the Coastal Change Likelihood assessment to determine the future likelihood of coastal change along the Northeast coastline in the next decade. The assessment synthesizes over 20 existing datasets from a variety of federal, state, and private organizations to describe the landscape and the hazards that may affect it to evaluate the likelihood of coastal change along U.S. coastlines on a decadal scale.
Coral Reefs in Crisis
Dr. Ilsa Kuffner of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center presented a public lecture, “Science to Guide Reef Restoration for Ecosystem Recovery” in March 2023. Dr. Kuffner explained why coral reefs around the world are in trouble, how there is some hope for these threatened ecosystems, and what successful coral-reef restoration would look like and ideas to get there. This information can be used by reef managers to invest in this natural infrastructure to combat coastal change hazards along reef-lined coasts.
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