Before we understood the consequences of our burning of fossil fuels and disturbing the balance of nature, we made many mistakes. In her weekly newsletter, Katherine Hayhoe tells how the work of conservationists has improved the management of mangrove forests which sequester carbon, buffer coastlines from storm surge (which is getting worse thanks to climate change), provide critical nursery habitat for fish, and filter pollutants from coastal waters. Concern was growing because the world’s coastal mangrove forests were disappearing, cleared to make way for fish farms, rice fields, and development.
A new study found that since 2010, mangrove regrowth around the world has been outpacing losses. Forty years of satellite data from NASA’s Landsat program shows that the gains are driven by mangroves both expanding into new habitats and regenerating in places where they once grew. After decades of decline, the recovery has accelerated so sharply that earlier losses have nearly been erased.