The article highlights the alarming double threat posed to freshwater tidal basins due to increased sea level rise and the influx of salt from both land and ocean sources. Geologist Sujay Kaushal emphasizes how human activities, such as salting roads and agricultural practices, contribute to increased salinity in watersheds. As climate change exacerbates droughts and raises sea levels, the ability to dilute pollutants diminishes, complicating efforts to maintain water quality. Kaushal's insights call attention to a critical intersection of environmental and human impacts on water supplies essential for life.
"It used to be that we could predict the future based on the past trends, but now we know that there are all these changes happening," Sujay Kaushal, a geologist at the University of Maryland, told me. "Nothing is shocking anymore."
Essentially, salt is coming from both directions—land and the ocean—and meeting in the middle, representing a 'double trouble' issue for freshwater tidal basins, Kaushal said.
The interaction between human activities and climate change and climate variability is very, very important," Kaushal said. "It amplifies the salt pulses that we see from human activities."
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