Earth911 talks with Jeremy Schewe, a wetlands scientist who is chief science officer and cofounder of Ecobot, an app company that helps to accurately inventory wetlands. Schewe shares the state of more than 110 million acres of wetlands in the U.S. and progress in understanding the role wetlands play in the carbon cycle, their influences on local weather and environmental diversity, and policymaking to protect these valuable natural resources. Wetlands are estimated to provide up to $14 trillion dollars in environmental services to humans annually by processing CO2, providing a home to fish and game, serving as a source of biological solutions to human disease and food production, and other functions humans cannot perform.

Wetlands' CO2 capture capacity is important to reducing global warming and in some regions they serve as a storm buffer. With extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, increasing in intensity, wetlands can alleviate damage from storm surges by capturing rising waters. Each major storm costs more than $2 billion in damage repair and climate remediation. Investing in better tracking of wetlands is essential to reversing the climate changes we already see and feel around us.

We explore the state of wetlands mapping and descriptions of what lives in these areas, which can be as large as a river delta or as small as a holler that contains water only part of the year. Ecobot assists scientists when they inventory a location, providing easy entry of plant and animal species present, physical features, and water information. Progress toward a complete understanding of wetlands is really only getting started, Schewe explains. In 2021, the next U.S. National Wetlands Condition Assessment will be released, providing the first five-year view into wetland changes. As humans gain insights into wetlands, they can better manage, restore, and preserve them.