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The document outlines the drivers of saltwater intrusion, including sea-level rise and groundwater extraction, and details its impacts on agriculture, human health, and ecosystems. It suggests reporting strategies such as using visual tools to identify 'ghost forests' and distinguishing between 'solutions' and 'strategies' for adaptation.

Maryland is experiencing accelerating climate risks, including rising sea levels, more frequent extreme precipitation, intensified droughts, and increasing temperature extremes. These changes are causing significant land loss, infrastructure damage, and public health crises, necessitating costly adaptation measures such as seawalls, flood-proofing, and cooling systems.

A coalition of organizations and experts is petitioning the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) to implement a mandatory pesticide data reporting system. They argue that MDA has failed to meet a statutory obligation dating back to 1989 to develop a comprehensive data program, relying instead on sporadic, voluntary surveys that undercount pesticide use and lack the detail necessary for scientific research. The petition highlights the severe risks pesticides pose to children, farmworkers, and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, noting that climate change exacerbates these harms. The petitioners propose a system where certified applicators and restricted-use pesticide sellers submit annual records to a searchable public database, citing similar models in California and New York.

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is a USDA initiative that coordinates conservation activities with partners to address natural resource concerns on a regional or watershed scale. As of August 2022, the program had made 589 awards to over 3,000 partners and maintained over 400 active projects across every US state. Funding is provided through the 2018 Farm Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, with the latter allocating $4.95 billion for the program through fiscal year 2026. The program focuses on soil, water, and wildlife protection, utilizing partnership agreements and program contracts with producers to implement eligible conservation activities.

The document examines the dual role of U.S. ports as both victims of climate change (facing sea level rise and extreme storms) and contributors to it through significant greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. It details mitigation strategies such as electrification of machinery, shore powering for berthed ships, and the adoption of renewable energy. It also discusses adaptation measures, contrasting 'gray infrastructure' like seawalls with nature-based solutions such as mangrove restoration and living shorelines. The brief highlights specific initiatives at ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Savannah, Miami, and others, while noting the role of EPA programs and international certifications in driving sustainability.

Ghost gear is identified as the most lethal form of marine plastic debris, contributing between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes of plastic to the oceans annually. It causes indiscriminate 'ghost fishing' that threatens endangered species, damages critical habitats, and creates economic losses for fisheries and other maritime sectors. While various international frameworks like UNCLOS and MARPOL exist, the report describes them as fragmented and ineffective. WWF advocates for a combination of preventive measures (gear marking, circular design), mitigation (biodegradable materials), and curative actions (retrieval programs), culminating in the call for a new UN treaty on marine plastic pollution.

The report argues that ecosystem management, particularly regarding 'wicked problems' like toxic algal blooms, is hindered by lagging scientific adoption of mature commercial technologies. It proposes a 'fintech gearbox' approach, combining the Internet of Things (IoT) for real-time data collection, big data for managing volume and variety, artificial intelligence (AI) for revealing hidden patterns, and blockchain for ensuring data integrity and trust. The author emphasizes that while these technologies offer significant potential for predictive modeling and sustainable supply chains, their success depends on overcoming cultural barriers in academia and government regarding open data sharing.

The document argues that urban water and sanitation systems in Alberta face significant risks from increasing temperatures, precipitation shifts, and extreme weather events. To build resilience, it advocates for a 'multi-barrier' approach to robustness, the integration of redundancy through source water diversity and decentralized treatment, and the promotion of resourcefulness via low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure. Specific recommendations for Calgary and Edmonton include conducting stochastic hydrology analysis on source watersheds, reviewing regulatory obstacles to decentralized water technologies, and exploring economic instruments like stormwater levies and water trading systems.

The document examines how US farm subsidies, specifically the Federal Crop Insurance Program, encourage wasteful farming practices that lead to widespread nitrogen pollution. It details the resulting costs to public health, water utilities, and coastal industries, while proposing a transition to integrated prairie strips to reduce runoff and save taxpayers and farmers billions of dollars.

Jamestown Island, the site of the first permanent English colony in North America, faces an existential threat from rising sea levels and severe storm surges. Much of the land is less than five feet above water and is sinking due to groundwater extraction. Local sea levels are rising at more than twice the global average, with projections suggesting a rise of up to six feet by the end of the century. The area is highly vulnerable to stronger North Atlantic storms, as evidenced by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, which caused $20 million in damages to the Colonial National Historical Park and threatened nearly a million artifacts. While the National Park Service has implemented protections like riprap and is monitoring sea level rise, some areas, such as a corner of the original Jamestown Fort, have already been lost.

Fort Monroe, a national monument in Virginia with significant history regarding the beginning and end of slavery in North America, is highly vulnerable to climate change. Water levels near the fort have risen nearly 1.5 feet since the 1920s, and projections suggest coastal waters could rise up to six feet by the end of the century. The site faces increased frequency and severity of flooding from storm surges and heavy rainfall, as evidenced by significant damage from Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Current protections, such as a seawall built by the Army Corps of Engineers, are based on historic rather than projected rates of sea level rise, leaving the site at risk of further inundation and sewage leaks into Chesapeake Bay.

Annapolis, Maryland, faces significant threats to its colonial-era architecture and tourism economy due to rising sea levels in the Chesapeake Bay and increasing storm surge intensity. The city has experienced severe flooding, notably during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, which caused over $120 million in damage to the U.S. Naval Academy. In response, the city is developing a Cultural Resource Hazard Mitigation plan, including a survey of 140 at-risk buildings in its Historic Landmark District, to preserve its eighteenth-century brick buildings and waterfront structures.

WWF and the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) are implementing a standardized process to create freshwater basin report cards. These tools synthesize complex data into accessible grades to empower stakeholders and improve management. The process involves six steps: stakeholder engagement, indicator selection, threshold definition, scoring, communication, and score improvement. A 2016 case study of Colombia’s Orinoco River Basin, which received a B-minus grade, demonstrates the model's application in addressing threats like land-use change and extractive industries.

Annapolis, Maryland, has experienced a more than fourfold increase in tidal flooding since 1970, with the City Dock flooding approximately 50 times per year. Sea levels in Annapolis have risen by over a foot in the last century, more than twice the global average. Projections indicate that by 2045, the city could face over 360 flood events annually. In response, the city is collaborating with agencies such as NOAA, FEMA, and the Army Corps of Engineers to assess vulnerability and study at-risk structures, while the U.S. Naval Academy is coordinating with state and local officials to address sea level rise as a national security issue.

Intervenors, represented by Earthjustice, submitted additional evidence to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to argue that the proposed Dominion Cove Point LNG facility faces significant climate-related risks. The submission includes a NOAA report predicting an above-normal 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, a Maryland Climate Change Commission report projecting sea-level rise of up to 5.7 feet by 2100, and an IPIECA report on oil and gas industry adaptation. The intervenors contend that these factors increase the likelihood of catastrophic facility breaches or ship accidents and demand a comprehensive climate risk assessment covering the project's design, location, and shipping activities.

The document outlines four types of cool roofs—naturally cool, coated, insulated, and green (vegetated)—and details their capacity to reduce building energy use, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. It highlights specific benefits such as a potential 15 percent reduction in air conditioning energy for single-story buildings and the ability of green roofs to manage storm-water runoff, illustrated by examples in Washington, D.C.

The document examines best practices in ecological goods and services (EGS) to inform policy in Manitoba, highlighting a shift toward integrated program bundling, increased accountability for environmental outcomes, and the scaling of programs to meet regional or continental goals.

The report analyzes EGS programs in the UK, Australia, France, Switzerland, the US, and Canada, emphasizing the shift from regulatory approaches to economic incentives. It highlights the importance of multifunctionality, geographic targeting, and public accountability. For Manitoba, it recommends a consolidated, watershed-based approach incorporating performance measurement and adaptive management.

The report outlines the foundational research for a decision support system (DSS) to facilitate ecological infrastructure investments in the Red River Basin. It identifies critical data gaps, particularly in high-resolution elevation data for Canada, and evaluates existing hydrological and ecosystem models. The project emphasizes the need for harmonized transboundary data and a common vision for basin management to address chronic flooding and the eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) supports the EPA's proposed Transport Rule to replace the judicially invalidated Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) but argues it should be strengthened to further reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). CATF specifically advocates for the passage of S. 2995, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 2010 (CAAA of 2010), asserting it would deliver greater emissions reductions, save more lives, and provide more regulatory certainty than the Transport Rule alone. The testimony details the severe health and environmental impacts of power plant emissions, including premature death from fine particulate matter, acid rain damage to eastern ecosystems, and ozone-related crop losses.