Wetlands, especially coastal salt marshes, provide crucial ecosystem services including biodiversity preservation, water regulation, carbon storage, and climate regulation. Human activities have degraded many of these ecosystems, but restoration projects, such as those at Cape Cod National Seashore, aim to rejuvenate affected marshes and restore their vital functions.
California coastlines used to be full of oyster reefs, until human activity and development caused populations to drop precipitously. Bringing them back could breathe new life into coastal ecosystems — and protect coastal communities’ against sea level rise. We spoke to Claire Arre about how Orange County Coastkeeper is using a “living shorelines” approach to reintroduce native oysters in Orange County and how other regions can use this strategy too.
The law of the sea convention adopted by the UN in 1982 defines the economic and political sea boundaries critical to small island states, but the rights it guarantees are threatened by rising sea levels. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Nilufar Oral, Director of the Center for International Law at the National University of Singapore and Co-Chair of the UN’s sea level rise study group, on how vulnerable states are advocating for updated protections.