AP quotes Kelley in report on disappearing salt marshes
Joseph Kelley, a University of Maine professor of marine geology, spoke with the Associated Press for an article about how salt marshes are disappearing due to rising sea levels. The U.S. Geological Survey recently conducted an assessment of eight of the country’s coastal salt marshes, according to the article. It found that half of the marshes will be gone in 350 years if they don’t regain some lost ground, and the other four also are backsliding, the article states. The report shows that salt marshes are not keeping up with the rise of sea levels, said Kelley, who was not involved in the work. “Somebody in 50 years who looks at some of the marshes we’ve looked at, they’ll just see lots of open water,” he said. The Portland Press Herald, Seattle Times, Orange County Register and The Republic carried the AP report.