Massachusetts’ 2022 drought pushed seawater into a coastal marsh, triggering an 83% crash in methane emissions; the wetland still hadn’t recovered a year later

In 2022, Massachusetts experienced a significant drought that led to seawater intrusion in a coastal marsh. This unusual phenomenon resulted in a dramatic reduction of methane emissions by almost eighty-three percent. Even after the return of normal rain, the marsh did not revert to its former state due to prolonged salt exposure, which disrupted microbial communities and curtailed methane production.