Our report, Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay, shows in vivid detail the dramatic effects of sea-level rise on the nation's largest estuary, which sustains more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals including great blue herons and sea turtles.

If global warming continues unabated, projected rising sea levels will significantly reshape the region's coastal landscape, threatening waterfowl hunting and recreational saltwater fishing in Virginia and Maryland

See how sea-level rise will impact Chesapeake Bay habitats. Click each region to view a sea-level rise animation and download a PDF of the maps:

What kind of habitat will be most impacted by global warming in the Chesapeake Bay? Beaches We'll lose 69% of estuarine beaches (found in estuaries) and 58% of ocean beaches (found along the ocean shore).

Wildlife At Risk

The Chesapeake Bay provides critical stopover and wintering habitat for more than one million migratory waterfowl, including the canvasback, mallard, redhead, American black duck, tundra swan, and Canada goose.

The bay’s coastal marshes are home to great blue heron, snowy egret, and other familiar birds, and they provide important food sources and nesting sites for numerous songbirds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

The region’s beaches support some of the largest populations of shorebirds in the western hemisphere such as red knot and piping plover, and are a critical nesting site for sea turtles.

And, of course, the Chesapeake Bay sustains recreational and commercial fisheries worth billions of dollars annually, including popular blue crab, rockfish, menhaden, and eastern oyster.