Chesapeake Bay health grade dips after hottest year on record and extreme rainfall patterns
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The health of the Chesapeake Bay declined in an annual report card on the nation's largest estuary released Tuesday, with scientists noting the effect of extreme rainfall patterns during the hottest year on record.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science gave the bay a C grade in its report card. That compares to a C-plus grade the bay received
last year
, which was the highest grade it had received since 2002.
'There was a substantial upturn in the overall Bay Health score in 2024, and it came down a little this year,' said Heath Kelsey, director of UMCES Integration and Application Network. 'Over the long term, though, there is still an improving trend from the 1980s until now. We think extreme weather may have had some impact on the scores this year.'
The report noted that last year was the
hottest year on record
, with extreme rainfall patterns.
'While parts of the watershed experienced drought, brief but intense downpours can cause water to flow over the ground rather than soak into it, increasing the fertilizer, dirt, and debris carried into waterways,' the report said.
Bill Dennison, vice president for Science Application at UMCES, said the changing climate is definitely having an effect on the bay.
'One of the things that we saw in Maryland, in particular, was a prolonged summer drought — not so much spring, but a summer drought — punctuated by these extreme runoff events,' Dennison said. 'So what was happening was that the crops didn't have enough water, so they're not soaking up the nutrients.'
As a result, when it did rain, there were excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, that were flowing into the bay, Dennison said.
'Now sadly, this is kind of our future,' Dennison said at a news conference at the Annapolis Maritime Museum near the bay. 'This is the kind of weather patterns that are starting to become more common, which is drought punctuated by extreme events.'
Warmer weather winters and higher temperatures mean less oxygen in the water for aquatic life, stressing fish and shellfish, Dennison added.
'So these are some of the things that we have to overcome and build more resilience into our system,' Dennison said.
Despite the grade drop, the report cited long-term improvements in dissolved oxygen in the bay's waters. That's the amount of oxygen present in the water that is needed to support bay aquatic life.
The report also noted long-term improvements in aquatic grasses, which provide habitat and food for various species, improve water quality and protect shorelines from erosion.
Phosphorus and nitrogen levels also have improved in the long-term in another positive sign. While they are needed by the bay's organisms, excessive nitrogen and phosphorus degrade the bay's water quality. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus fuel algal blooms that can cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses.
Water clarity and chlorophyll-a scores, however, have declining long-term trends, the report said. Chlorophyll-a in the bay is an indicator of phytoplankton abundance and water quality.
Improving trends can be attributed to management and restoration efforts at the regional, state, and local levels, the report said. Regionally, wastewater treatment plants have been upgraded and programs have been put in place to reduce nutrient and sediment input.
The health of the bay is a reflection of what's happening across its six-state watershed, which includes Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia along with the District of Columbia.
UMCES, which is marking its 100th anniversary, also provides a grade for the overall watershed health in its report card. It gave the watershed a grade of C-plus. The watershed health grade includes ecological, societal and economic indicators.
The most concerning societal indicator was heat vulnerability, the report said, noting communities may be under heat stress due to hotter air temperatures, less tree canopy cover, and more paved surfaces.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
Sunrise at Stonehenge draws druids, pagans and revelers to celebrate the summer solstice
LONDON (AP) — As the sun rose Saturday on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years. The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the stones, which are otherwise fenced off. The crowd gathered before dawn at the World Heritage Site to mark the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, beating the heat during the U.K.'s first amber heat-health alert issued since September 2023. Temperatures later topped 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Surrey, 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Stonehenge, the hottest temperature recorded in the U.K. so far this year. About 25,000 sun devotees and other revelers, including druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists, showed up, according to English Heritage which operates the site. More than 400,000 others around the world watched a livestream. 'This morning was a joyous and peaceful occasion with the most beautiful sunrise,' said Richard Dewdney, head of operations at Stonehenge. 'It is fantastic to see Stonehenge continuing to enchant and connect people.' Stonehenge was built in stages 5,000 years ago on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of London. The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the so-called bluestones are known to have come from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles (240 kilometers) away, and the altar stone was recently discovered to have come from northern Scotland, some 460 miles (740 kilometers) away. The site's meaning has been vigorously debated. Theories range from it being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events. The most generally accepted interpretation is that it was a temple aligned with movements of the sun — lining up perfectly with the summer and winter solstices.
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sunrise at Stonehenge draws druids, pagans and revelers to celebrate the summer solstice
LONDON (AP) — As the sun rose on the longest day of the year Saturday, a crowd erupted in cheers at Stonehenge where the ancient monument in southern England has clocked the summer solstice over thousands of years. The orange ball crested the northeast horizon behind the Heel Stone, the entrance to the stone circle, and shone its beam of light into the center of one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. The solstice is one of the few occasions each year when visitors are allowed to walk among the stones, which are otherwise fenced off. The crowd gathered before dawn at the World Heritage Site to mark the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, beating the heat during the U.K.'s first amber heat-health alert issued since September 2023. Temperatures later topped 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Surrey, 80 miles (128 kilometers) east of Stonehenge, the hottest temperature recorded in the U.K. this year. About 25,000 sun devotees and other revelers, including druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists, showed up, according to English Heritage which operates the site. More than 400,000 others around the world watched a livestream. 'This morning was a joyous and peaceful occasion with the most beautiful sunrise," said Richard Dewdney, head of operations at Stonehenge. 'It is fantastic to see Stonehenge continuing to enchant and connect people.' Stonehenge was built in stages 5,000 years ago on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of London. The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 B.C. Some of the so-called bluestones are known to have come from the Preseli Hills in southwest Wales, nearly 150 miles (240 kilometers) away, and the altar stone was recently discovered to have come from northern Scotland, some 460 miles (740 kilometers) away. The site's meaning has been vigorously debated. Theories range from it being a coronation place for Danish kings, a druid temple, a cult center for healing, or an astronomical computer for predicting eclipses and solar events. The most generally accepted interpretation is that it was a temple aligned with movements of the sun — lining up perfectly with the summer and winter solstices.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
NASA spacecraft around the moon photographs the crash site of a Japanese company's lunar lander
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft around the moon has photographed the crash site of a Japanese company's lunar lander. NASA released the pictures Friday, two weeks after ispace's lander slammed into the moon. The images show a dark smudge where the lander, named Resilience, and its mini rover crashed into Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a volcanic region in the moon's far north. A faint halo around the area was formed by the lunar dirt kicked up by the impact. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the scene last week. The crash was the second failure in two years for Tokyo-based ispace. Company officials plan to hold a news conference next week to explain what doomed the latest mission, launched from Cape Canaveral in January. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
