The North American Coastal Plain loses nearly 700 km² of wetland forest a year (and more on the Pacific Coast) from rising salt water levels
by Rachel Duensing, 16/03/2022 in 17 News WNCN Raleigh
Sea-level rise creating ‘ghost forests’ in North Carolina: Imagine a forest the size of Raleigh and Durham. Now imagine a forest that size dying every single year.It’s an unfortunate reality that’s happening right now across the North American Coastal Plain, including part of our backyard here in North Carolina.
Featured Image: Atlantic white cedars dying near the banks of the Bass River in New Jersey. Credit: Ted Blanco/Climate Central / https://assets.climatecentral.org/images/made/9_13_16_upton_BassRiver-27_720_404_s_c1_c_c.jpg / From: ‘Ghost Forests’ Appear As Rising Seas Kill Trees, by John Upton, Climate Central
Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.
Living things and soils store vast amounts of organic carbon. If this is lost to the atmosphere by wildfire, land clearing, or other disturbances it is not easily recovered
by Govind Bhutata 13/02/2022 Carbon Streaming Corporation in Visual Capitalist
The Earth is home to some natural ecosystems that function as carbon vaults, storing massive amounts of carbon. Researchers developed the concept of “irrecoverable carbon” to identify areas on the basis of three criteria relevant for conservation:
● Manageability: How they can be influenced by direct and local human actions
● Vulnerability: The magnitude of carbon lost upon disturbance
● Recoverability: The recoverability of carbon stocks following loss
Applying the three criteria across all ecosystems reveals that some places contain carbon that humans can manage, and if lost, could not be recovered by 2050, when the world needs to reach net-zero to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.
The above graphic sponsored by Carbon Streaming Corporation charts global irrecoverable carbon by land area, highlighting important ecosystems of stored carbon.
Greta Thunberg tells us us how important it is to fight the fires.
In other words, smell the smoke, see the reality, and fight the fire that is burning up our only planet so we can give our offspring a hopeful future. This is the only issue that matters. All the troop of wooden-headed puppets is doing is rearranging the furniture in the burning house to be incinerated along with anything else we may care about. In Greta’s words, “even a small child can understand [this]”. People hope for their children’s futures. She doesn’t want your hope. She wants you to panic enough to wake up and fight the fire…. so she can have some hope for her future. Vote Climate One’s Traffic Light Voting System will help you use your vote wisely on behalf of our offsprings’ futures.
If we successfully purge our Parliament of the puppets, we may be able leave our offspring with a hopeful future.
Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.