Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House probably seems like a disastrously horrible time for anyone who cares about the environment and believes in climate change.
The globe reached a sobering milestone just last month, setting yet another temperature record and increasing the likelihood of permanent climate impacts, such as severe weather events like storms, droughts, and wildfires. At the United Nations COP29 climate meeting in late November, international delegates argued over crucial topics, raising fresh concerns about how mankind will address the climate crisis.
Trump’s skepticism of climate science has intensified. He has promised to abandon the green policies put in place by his predecessor, destroy the Environmental Protection Agency, yank the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and adopt an agenda that emphasizes drill, baby, drill energy. This plan would exempt fossil fuel businesses from numerous federal laws and regulations that currently shield communities, wildlife, and the environment from industrial pollution.
Without these protections, states like Florida, Texas, and Louisiana—which have a history of putting industry before ecological preservation—face serious environmental hazards, including the potential to jeopardize one of nature’s most interesting and underappreciated double performances.
Both mangroves and manatees.
Mangroves are perhaps nature’s super hero and a potential remedy for the climate catastrophe.
In addition to providing natural defense against storm surges and coastal erosion, these tangled trees and shrubs store up to five times as much carbon as other forests, reducing the effects of climate change.
The Nature Conservancy claims that a study done in the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017 revealed a 25% decrease in flood damage in regions with sizable mangrove habitats between the shore and residential and commercial development.
In addition to filtering pollutants from water, mangroves are home to a wide variety of species, including fish, crabs, birds, and reptiles, as part of wetland environments.
According to The Nature Conservancy’s Marc Leal and Mark Spalding, who cited a 2024 study on the condition of mangroves worldwide, “mangroves sustain and safeguard entire communities through their multitude of benefits.” In addition to providing more local benefits by assisting us in adapting to the change we are already too late to prevent, mangroves are essential to our response to climate change in terms of mitigating it through carbon storage and sequestration.
Even though mangroves are important for the environment, their future is uncertain.
According to the 2024 mangrove study of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), sea level rise and climate change are the main threats to around 50% of the world’s mangrove ecosystems, which are in danger of collapsing.
These habitats can be destroyed by human activities including dredging, building, and infrastructure related to fossil fuels. Mangrove forests contribute significantly to climate change by releasing vast volumes of stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere if they are destroyed.Although they excel at absorbing storm surges, if they experience too many storms or hurricanes or if sea levels rise over their exposed roots, they will find it difficult to recover and germinate. They can withstand a certain amount of salinity, but prolonged exposure to highly salinized water is harmful.
There is a slight misperception that because these mangroves are near the sea, they must enjoy salt water. More than 250 experts participated to the report, including Dan Friess, a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans. No. They can withstand it, but it is poisonous to them, just like it is to any other plant.
Mangroves aren’t protected despite their inherent abilities.
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Clean Water Act does not protect wetlands, including mangroves. This ruling increased the latitude of fossil fuel companies, home builders, and developers to clear mangroves and physically replace these important wetland habitats with gravel.
Home to The Struggling Manatee
Manatees can also be found in the mangroves of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
Because manatees depend on wetlands and mangroves for food and habitat, the wellbeing of wetland ecosystems is crucial to their survival. The manatees are more vulnerable in the absence of mangroves. Additionally, the mangroves lose an essential ecological balance when manatees are absent.
Manatees contribute to the maintenance of healthy vegetation levels in and around mangroves by feeding on seagrass and other aquatic plants.Because of their grazing, underwater environments are not suffocated by overgrowth. In exchange, mangroves use their extensive root systems to shield them from human hazards like building and boats.
After years of conservation work, manatees were removed from the endangered species list in 2017. However, following hundreds of recent deaths, federal officials are now reevaluating the manatee population. About 2,000 manatees, or 20% of Florida’s total population, perished in 2021 and 2022 as a result of pollution-induced algal blooms.
Supporting mangroves is essential for preserving the Gulf Coast coasts, towns, economy, and sea cows, even though it might not completely address the climate catastrophe or lessen Trump’s anti-environmental agenda.
Check out these groups that work to save manatees and restore mangroves if you’re feeling motivated.
Mangrove and wetland non-profits
Mangrove Action Project: Uses community-based initiatives and education to preserve and restore mangrove ecosystems.
The Nature Conservancy: Takes part in international conservation initiatives, such as preserving and repairing wetlands and mangroves.
Founded in 1937, Ducks Unlimited works to protect wetlands and their related ecosystems for the benefit of waterfowl and other species.
Through advocacy for policies, education, and training, the National Association of Wetland Managers works to protect and manage wetlands.
Manatee non-profits
Established in 1981 by former Florida Governor Bob Graham and singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, the Save the Manatee Club (SMC) is committed to preserving endangered manatees and their aquatic environments by means of activism, education, and public awareness campaigns.
Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership: This cooperative organization of state, federal, private, and nonprofit organizations works to inspire and promote manatee conservation through the rescue, rehabilitation, release, and monitoring of manatees.
Friends of Manatee Lagoon: This nonprofit group is committed to conserving manatees and their habitats through a variety of conservation initiatives and is renowned for its manatee research, awareness, and education.
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