iiif-service gmd gmd384 g3842 g3842p ct004173-full-pct 25-0-default

Chesapeake Bay

35,000,000 BCE - present

Shaped by the crater from a bolide collision over 35 million years ago, the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world. About 51 billion gallons of freshwater from over 150 rivers, streams, and creeks empty into the Bay daily, including the Susquehanna, Potomac, and James Rivers. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed runs from New York to Virginia, totaling 64,000 square miles. For many centuries, the region boasted of rich biodiversity with over 3,600 species of plants and animals that make the Bay their home, including fish, shellfish, submerged grasses, and migratory birds. In recent decades, the Bay’s wildlife and natural habitats have been in severe decline due to threats such as chemical pollution, climate change, and wetland destruction.

Most Pressing Issues

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollution has been a growing issue to the Chesapeake Bay. An overabundance of these nutrients due to agricultural runoff, land use change, and urban development degrades the Bay’s water quality over time. Additionally, nitrogen and phosphorus feed harmful algal blooms that block sunlight from reaching underwater bay grasses that are crucial for the success of the ecosystem.

Climate change

Rising sea levels and warming water temperatures as a result of climate change has become a growing threat to the Chesapeake Bay, causing coastal flooding and erosion. Climate change has also contributed to a decline in some of the Bay’s most iconic wildlife populations, as well as altered the migration patterns of fish and birds throughout the area.

Chemical contamination

Almost three-quarters of the Bay’s tidal waters are impaired by chemical contaminants as a result of insecticide use on watershed’s farmland and chemicals from wastewater and stormwater runoff. This contamination builds up in the Bay overtime and effects the survival and growth of the region’s wildlife, including important bottom-dwelling fish and threatened bird species.

How You Can Help

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is a non-profit organization devoted to the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay through restoration, advocacy, education, and litigation.

Waterkeepers Chesapeake

Waterkeepers Chesapeake fights for clean water and a healthy environment by supporting Waterkeepers throughout the Chesapeake and coastal regions as they protect their communities, rivers, and streams from pollution.

Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

We are the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay! We strive for clean streams and rivers flowing through resilient landscapes, cared for by the people who live, work, and play in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Chesapeake Conservancy

Chesapeake Conservancy is a non-profit organization, whose aim is to use technology and advocacy to support conservation of the Chesapeake Bay.

Sources:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

"Maryland at a Glance: Chesapeake Bay," Maryland Manual Online, Maryland State Archives, March 18, 2022.

"Addressing Nutrient Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay," United States Environmental Protection Agency, July 16, 2021.

"Pollution in the Bay," Maryland.gov, Maryland Department of Education.

"Wetland Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay," Encyclopedia of Earth's (EoE) Student Science Communication Project, Boston University.