A new study conducted by a team of scientists and environmentalists has found that the mangrove forests could become a memory in the future, as this gift of nature will be drowned due to drastic sea-level rise. According to researchers who took part in the study, this unfortunate event could happen before 2050 if humans fail to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.
Mangrove Forests on the Verge of Death
The study report published in the journal Science made this conclusion after analyzing sediments from 78 Mangrove ecosystems from the past 10,000 years. The research report warned that Mangrove forests could be drowned under the waters if sea level rises by .23 inches. Due to adverse climate change and global warming, scientists believe that this could happen by 2050.
It should be noted that Mangrove forests play a crucial role in stabilizing the ecosystem. These forests protect coastal areas from tropical storms, and they also provide habitat for various organisms that include algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, and bryozoans.
"If they disappear, there's going to be imbalances in the number of fish and other species that rely on them. And that could have effects on other species, even ones that actually aren't sheltered by these mangroves because when the levels of different species change, that can affect the entire system," Erica Ashe, a postdoctoral scientist at Rutgers University who is the co-author of the study.
Human Interference Behind Sea-Level Rise
A few weeks back, another study report has suggested that modern-day sea level rise is mainly due to human interferences in nature, and earth's shifting orbit only plays a meager role behind the drastic spike in water levels.
Several previous estimates had suggested that human activities are responsible for about 70 percent of the observed sea-level rise since 1970. However, according to this latest study report, this percentage is approaching 100 percent in recent years.
