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Article: Facts on the Chesapeake Bay and its environment.(ECOLOGY)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- June 16, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Covering 64,000 square miles that encompass parts of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay is North America's largest and the world's third largest estuary (an area where fresh and salt water mix). On a geological scale, the bay is young: It was formed about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, when glaciers melted and flooded the Susquehanna River valley.
Humans have inhabited the area since 8000 B.C. Today it is home to about 16 million people, and the population is expected to increase to more than 18 million by 2020. The Chesapeake Bay watershed also supports more than ...