New research on tidal flats is 'wake up call' for US coastal communities

About 41 million people in live in U.S. Atlantic coastline counties. There isn't an effective way to identify the impact of urban growth on tidal flats -- the guardians of beachfront communities. Researchers have developed a new way to quantify these impacts from a geographic lens focused on place and space using data over three decades. Analyzing the annual dynamics of three highly urbanized coastal counties in the southeastern U.S., results show that tidal flats in these three counties urgentl