Climate Change Impacts on
Coastal Habitats
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Butterfly, Cambria
Photo © Keni Lee
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Coastal habitats face increased vulnerability from changes in weather patterns, temperature,
and sea level due to climate change. Vulnerable coastal habitats include beaches, wetlands,
grasslands, riparian areas, coastal sage scrub, chaparral and woodlands.
The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
has presented a number of possible scenarios including a worst case
or “business as usual” scenario that predicts more frequent and more intense storms, an 8 to
10.4°F rise in global temperature, and a 22 to 30 inch rise in seal level by the end of the
century. Such changes will impact coastal habitats in myriad ways; a primary concern is that
many coastal habitat species (permanently attached organisms (plants and some animals) as well
as animals with small home ranges) may not be capable of adapting as quickly as the climate
is projected to change. Other climate change concerns for coastal habitats include:
1) increased erosion of habitats due to sea level rise, 2) loss of wetland habitat due to sea
level rise, 3) increased competition from non-native species as native species become more
vulnerable, 4) increased fires and 5) loss and fragmentation of migration corridors. Coastal
organisms occupying habitats at the edges of their ranges and that are subject to situations
such as those listed above will be particularly vulnerable to extinction if adaptation does
not occur.
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