WASHINGTON – Over a four-year span, the United States lost more than 360,000 acres (145,000 hectares) of freshwater and saltwater wetlands to fierce storms, sea-level rise and booming development along the coasts, according to a newly released federal study.
The disappearance of so much grass and forest marsh on the edge of waterways is a disturbing sign that government projects to restore wetlands are failing to keep pace as storms intensify, the sea level creeps up and development paves the way for rising coastal populations.
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