360,000 -- Why should anyone care?

by Jonathan A. Scott, Clean Water Action Communications Team 360,000 acres of wetlands. Those wetlands used to protect communities from flooding. They were nurseries, breeding grounds and habitat for countless fish, birds and other animals. They were there to filter pollution and absorb the rainfall and snow melt that would eventually become our drinking water. Those wetlands and others like them were part of our natural capital, forming the foundation for healthy ecosystems, healthy communities and healthy local economies. We count on wetlands to do all of these things.

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

What makes these 360,000 acres of wetlands different from any others in the U.S.? They’re gone. Lost over the past four years to storm damage, rising sea levels and development – bulldozed, channelized, ploughed, filled-in, washed away or choked by poorly planned, poorly sited construction projects and homebuilding, or simply paved out of existence.

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

  According to the latest federally-funded research, losing more than 360,000 acres of wetlands over four years (2004-2009) is a big deal. Not only have valuable resources been lost – in most cases the loss is permanent – the losses are happening at a rate 25 percent faster than in the same locations during the six years before that (1998-2004).

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

  Where is this happening? The Gulf Coast, along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and around the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay and is affecting fresh water, inland areas, too. Some of our most important water resources and drinking water sources for millions of Americans could suffer irreversible harm if these trends continue. That’s why we should care. Now, what should be done to turn things around for our wetlands and our water, and for the people and communities who rely on them?

What do the numbers mean? How much is 360,000 acres? That’s about the same as 360,000 football fields, if each football field was 91 yards long instead of the full 100.