Early Warning Systems for Coastal Ecosystems and Public Health Concerns

The concept of developing early warning systems at a range of scales to reduce the likelihood of negatively impacting ecosystems is not new. Early warning systems are often developed in response to specific, immediate concerns such as major weather events (e.g., hurricanes, cyclones, tornados) or geo-physical events (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, tidal waves). There is also a need to develop early warning systems that identify environmental issues that may take longer to develop, or emerge, than the natural disasters that are typically targeted. Emerging environmental threats might include types of environmental degradation that increases the vulnerability of ecosystems or decreases the resiliency of ecosystems to a point where there is a significant alteration in ecosystem function and a negative impact on human health and well-being.