Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - Florida

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's barrier island and marsh habitat are the gateway to the Kennedy Space Center, a nexus of humanity's technological ambition. If the juxtaposition seems jarring to the sensibilities of people, it does not seem to have the same effect on wildlife. More than 300 species of birds make use of the refuge, including important populations of southern bald eagles, brown pelicans, wood storks and mottled ducks. Migrating warblers stop over in droves of fluttering yellow and blue and winter concentrations of waterfowl can exceed 100,000 birds. A long list of rare and endangered wildlife also make their home here. West Indian manatees meander the Mosquito Lagoon in spring. Loggerhead turtles threatened by beach development, pollution and motorized boats safely nest on refuge beaches. And the imperiled Florida scrub jay finds a rare stretch of scrub habitat.

The Threat

As a barrier island and coastal ecosystem, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge exists at the pleasure of the sea. Historically the ocean has made gradual and reasonable demands on the island's ability to adapt. But if expectations of a rise in sea level in the next century bear out, much of the refuge's marshlands and a portion of the uplands would be inundated. The future of the fragile island ecosystem depends on whether the change happens relatively quickly or gradually over a long period, and on the ability of the marsh to keep up.

Unfortunately, for Merritt Island wildlife the potentially enormous loss of habitat is not the only threat from global warming. Researchers believe higher water temperatures in Gulf Coast areas are behind the increase in toxic algal blooms such as the red tide that killed more than 150 manatees in 1996. If sea temperatures continue to escalate, Atlantic coastal sea life, including Merritt Island's, could suffer a similar fate.

Biologists have linked rising air temperatures to the greater incidence of female hatchlings observed in loggerhead turtle populations in recent years, a dangerous reproductive trend for the threatened turtle. Warmer sea surface temperatures have also been related to earlier and shorter loggerhead sea turtle nesting periods, which will most likely lead to less egg clutches oviposited per nesting season. Since there is no evidence that oviparous species such as loggerhead sea turtles will adapt to the warmer temperatures, global warming will continue to contribute to the their decline.