This forum focuses on recent and possible future changes to Cape Cod, as well as on local efforts to understand and mitigate adverse impacts due to sea level rise and severe storms. Maps from the “Losing Cape Cod” project, which provide vivid evidence of rapid change, will be featured. The forum begins at 6:30 pm on February 13 at the Snow Library (67 Main Street, Orleans). This event is free and open to all; light refreshments will be served.
Featured speakers will be Tom Stone, research associate at the Woods Hole Research Center; Alison Leschen, manager of the Waquoit Bay Reserve; and Mark Robinson, executive director of the Compact for Cape Cod Conservation Trusts.
Tom will provide an update on “Losing Cape Cod,” a mapping project that has revealed the rapid decrease of open space on Cape Cod over time and now provides attention-getting evidence of the possible local effects of sea level rise and severe storms.
Alison will share results of the Reserve’s greenhouse gas audit, which encompasses not only the carbon emissions attributable to its buildings and vehicles but also carbon cycling and storage through its nearly 1300 acres of land. She also will introduce innovative research that is providing insights on how nutrient loading due to wastewater and other sources may degrade the carbon storage and ecological function of salt marshes.
Mark will be on hand to discuss the importance of land preservation and management in helping to enhance carbon storage, absorb flooding, and provide resiliency in the face of climate change.
article written/provided by CIRENEW
