Modeling the Economic Value of Blue Carbon in Delaware Estuary Wetlands: Historic Estimates and Future Projections

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:206

Article

Carr, Edward W.¹  Shirazi, Yosef¹  Parsons, George R.¹  Hoagland, Porter²  Sommerfield, Christopher K.³ 

[1] Univ Delaware, Sch Marine Sci & Policy, Newark, DE 19716 USA

[2] Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Marine Policy Ctr, 266 Woods Hole Rd,MS 41, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA

[3] Univ Delaware, Sch Marine Sci & Policy, Lewes, DE 19958 USA

关键词: Carbon sequestration;    Blue carbon;    Tidal wetlands;    Ecosystem services;    Social cost of carbon;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.10.018

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Coastal wetlands sequester large amounts of carbon in their soils, effectively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and acting as a carbon sink. In this paper, we estimate the economic value of carbon sequestered by wetlands in the Delaware Estuary. We estimate the value of the current stock of wetlands, the value of the historic loss of wetlands, and under a range of different scenarios the expected future loss. We use historical topographic maps and Land Cover inventories of the Delaware Estuary to measure the acreage of tidal wetlands in nine distinct time periods from 1778 to 2011. Using these data, we estimate an annual rate of wetland loss of 1.03 km(2). Coupling observed land cover change with exogenous factors including sea-level rise, population pressure, and channel dredging, we estimate changes in tidal wetland area under a range of futufe scenarios for our expected future economic loss estimates. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free