Responses to Climate Change and their Implications on Preservation and Restoration of the Chesapeake Bay

The greatest threat to restoration of the Chesapeake Bay comes not from the potential geophysical effects of climate change, but from the potential responses to climate change and, in particular, exclusive reliance on a strategy of reducing greenhouse gases. The scientific community has reached a consensus on this. As Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen admits, efforts to forestall climate change exclusively through reductions in greenhouse gases is no more than “a pious wish”. Public reports show nations have rejected this strategy, and without full, massive global cooperation, reliance on greenhouse gas reductions, alone, will fail.