James Vasslides Matthew Poach Curtis Bohlen Christopher W. Hunt Matthew Liebman Xinping Hu Melissa McCutcheon Jim O’Donnell Kay Howard-Strobel Prassede Vella John Lehrter Karina Nielsen John Largier Tom Ford Alex Steele Kimberly K. Yates York Johnson Cheryl Brown Stephen R. Pacella Holly Galavotti 2021 <p>Estuaries and coastal areas are highly vulnerable to the impacts of acidification on shellfish, coral reefs, fisheries, and the commercial and recreational industries that they support. Yet, little is known about the extent of this vulnerability and the estuary-specific drivers that contribute to acidification, such as nutrient enrichment from stormwater, agriculture and wastewater discharges, upwelling of CO₂ -rich seawater, elevated atmospheric CO₂ from urban and agricultural activities, benthic and marsh-driven processes, and alkalinity and carbon content of freshwater flows. Comprehensive, high resolution monitoring data are needed at varying spatial and temporal scales to provide actionable information tailored to each estuary. Because carbonate chemistry in the coastal environment can be affected by nutrient dynamics, understanding how nutrient inputs exacerbate acidification impacts is essential for the formulation of estuary-specific actions. </p> application/pdf en EPA Measuring coastal acidification using in situ sensors in the National Estuary Program reports