[three_fourth]With global temperatures rising each year, the effects of climate change reach far beyond the Arctic Ocean, which global warming has impacted more than any other region and which scientists say will see an ice-free summer within the next 25 years.
There is a body of water much closer to home that has been experiencing alarming changes consistent with global climate change trends: the Long Island Sound.
From rising sea levels to declining cold-water fish populations, global effects of climate change are playing out right here at home, according to the Long Island Sound Study
Slowly increasing temperatures in the Sound are blamed for a decline in cold-water species like lobster and winter flounder and an increase in summer flounder and scup, which typically thrive in more southern regions.
Sea levels in the Sound have also been increasing at a similar or slightly greater rate than global sea level increases, with an average increase in the Sound of almost one inch per decade.
These impacts are examined in a new website for residents that explains the impacts of climate change in the Long Island Sound, which was launched last week by a partnership of government agencies and organizations known as the Long Island Sound Study.
The partnership was formed in 1985 to protect one of the largest drivers of the Long Island economy and has invested millions of dollars into community projects around the Sound. Educating the public is also one of the purposes of the Long Island Sound Study, which is why the group launched its new website last week.
The website provides information about the changes that have occurred in the Sound in recent decades, the scientific research behind global climate change and what local residents can do to help turn the tide. Simple lifestyle changes like recycling, choosing public transportation when possible and driving fuel-efficient vehicles can greatly reduce a person’s carbon footprint.
It also lists the climate change-related research and management efforts that are going on in the Sound right now, including monitoring of sea level rises in salt marshes and ocean acidification research.
