What impact have the Bay and its local waters had on your life? We'd like to know. Founded in , the Chesapeake Bay Foundation CBF is the largest independent conservation organization dedicated solely to saving the Bay. The Issues Home to more than 18 million people and 3, species of plants and animals, the Chesapeake Bay watershed is a vast, rich, and complex system. Agriculture What role do farms and agricultural production play in the health of our waters?
Read More. Air Pollution Learn more about air pollution and how it affects the Chesapeake Bay each year, home to more than 3, plants and animals. Chemical Contamination Toxic chemicals are entering our waters everyday. Troy Wenger. Climate Change How are warmer waters and temperatures experienced across the globe impacting the Chesapeake Bay?
Dave Harp. Dead Zones Learn more about the Chesapeake Bay dead zone, what causes dead zones, and how dead zones affect plants, animals, and humans in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Environmental Justice Clean water, clean air, and a safe environment are rights we all share. Forest Loss To save the Bay, forests need to flourish throughout the watershed.
Habitat Degradation Rebuilding healthy and resilient habitat for all Bay critters is a key to saving the Chesapeake. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world.
Nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Chesapeake are a regional water quality concern. Nitrogen and phosphorus have always been a part of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, but have increased to excessive levels over the last few decades.
Prior to substantial human activity in the region, most nitrogen and phosphorus was absorbed or retained by natural forest and wetland vegetation. However, the activities of over A third threat to the migrating waterfowl will affect those who do make it to their wintering grounds in the Chesapeake.
They will likely face a loss of shallow-water habitat as sea levels rise. Higher water levels will inundate the coastal marshes and wetlands that provide vital food for these animals. Researchers have linked the spread of new diseases and more frequent epidemics to global warming. In the Chesapeake, a new species of mycobacterium recently infected rockfish, and outbreaks are more common in other Bay fish as well.
Diseases have decimated native oysters. Poor water quality, pollution, and habitat degradation are factors in these infections, but the stress of warmer water makes the species more vulnerable to disease. Resource managers expect sea-level rise to have a direct effect on submerged aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay.
As water depth increases, the sunlight available to the plants decreases, reducing their ability to photosynthesize. Higher water temperatures also affect underwater grasses.
For example, higher water temperatures, in conjunction with turbidity and low-light conditions, have contributed to the decline of eelgrass in the last decade. Warmer water, in conjunction with turbidity and low-light conditions, kills the grasses.
Some documentation indicates that grasses can recover when water conditions improve, but the trend towards further warming will have the opposite effect. Increased precipitation as a result of climate change alters the amount of water flowing into the Bay, which, in turn, can decrease salinity as more freshwater runoff pours into the Bay. This change in salinity can have a dramatic effect on available habitat for submerged aquatic vegetation. Additionally, species have different abilities to tolerate salinity, so the species that are present may change.
Top of Page. Today the Chesapeake Bay is in peril. We can see the results of human activities and natural events that affect the Bay's health and diversity. The Bay's ability to sustain life has diminished in visible and measurable ways.
Key species have declined, threatening the sensitive ecosystem and the livelihoods of communities dependent on Bay harvests. Cutting forests to make way for development has destroyed natural protections for fragile shorelines, habitats, and water quality. The complex network of rivers and streams within the surrounding watershed carries pollution and heavy sediment loads downstream.
From historical accounts left by early explorers, we know how abundant the Chesapeake Bay once was. Through modern science, we know what actions are needed to restore it to health.
Through concerted restoration efforts involving all levels of government and countless organizations and individuals, we can see progress.
But restoring the Chesapeake Bay is a race against time. Population growth and other human activities are offsetting much of the recent restoration progress.
The future health of the Bay depends on accelerating restoration efforts and involving every person who lives in or visits the watershed. The Chesapeake Bay was the nation's first estuary targeted by the U. Congress for restoration and protection. In the s Congress authorized a five-year study to analyze the rapid loss of wildlife and aquatic life that was devastating the Bay. The findings of this study led to creation of the Chesapeake Bay Program in to head the restoration of the Bay and its tributaries.
Environmental Protection Agency; and more than two dozen other federal agencies. The National Park Service is a partner in this effort. The National Park Service administers the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network to help people experience the Chesapeake Bay and understand how to become involved in protecting and restoring this national treasure. Partners in the Chesapeake Bay Program pledge to work together to reduce pollutants going into the Bay and to restore its living resources.
In the CBP Executive Council set a goal to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Bay by 40 percent by the year At the time, setting numeric goals with specific deadlines was unprecedented, but the practice has become a hallmark of the Chesapeake Bay Program.
The Chesapeake Bay Program identifies specific measures to quantify the effectiveness of restoration efforts. You can see an annual assessment of Bay health and restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Program website.
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