Naresh Kumar, a professor of environmental health at the University of Miami, has documented dangerous levels of poisonous chemicals in Guánica Bay for the past seven years and has spearheaded outreach efforts to raise awareness about the problem and to have the EPA designate the area for management and cleanup.
“Our goal (in the Marianas) is not only to reverse the decline of coral reefs but to rebuild these ecosystems,” Castro said. “We need a mechanism that provides actionable information to continue on a path to save our reefs. This bill provides that.”
The act was introduced by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida, who serves on the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. The bipartisan and bicameral legislation would reauthorize and update the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, which expired more than 15 years ago, and bolster the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program that it created.
, the study found that coral reefs offer more than $1.8 billion in annual flood protection to coastal communities. Losing 1 meter of reef height would cause 100-year flooding zones to increase by 23%, impacting 53,800 more people (a 62% increase) and 90% more property and increasing damages by $5.3 billion.
The study also found that the United States has 200 miles (325 kilometers) of high-value reefs that are worth more than $1.6 million per mile ($1 million per kilometer) annually for flood protection alone. Most of these high-value reefs are in Florida and Hawaii.
“Valuing the flood risk-reduction service of existing ecosystems is one step toward managing them as natural infrastructure,” said lead author Borja Reguero, an associate researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “This study provides new local information on how reefs protect communities at the building-block level, while maintaining a national focus for policy purposes.”
Coral reefs prevent more than $5 3 billion in potential flood damage for US property owners eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
House Natural Resources Committee Issues Testimony From U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning & Natural Resources
Targeted News Service
Jean-Pierre L. Oriol, commissioner of the
U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, as part of a remote hearing entitled Discussion on the Insular Area Climate Change Act on
March 4, 2021:
Thank you
Representative Grijalva for the opportunity to testify in support of the proposed Insular Areas Climate Change Act on behalf of the US Virgin Islands. Whether it is the 2015 federally-declared disaster for drought in the US Caribbean, the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria to
Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands in 2017, and Tropical Cyclone Gita in