Cumulative Impacts

One of the benefits of a regional approach to ocean planning is the perspective to foresee and characterize potential cumulative impacts from new human activities or changes in activities. Ecosystems and economies are connected at a range of scales; it is beneficial to consider single activities or uses as part of a broader system. For example, new infrastructure in a single location may have a certain magnitude of positive and negative impacts on the ecosystem and economy, but several new elements of infrastructure across the region can cumulatively have a higher magnitude of potential positive and negative impacts.

There have been a number of scientific (i.e., non-regulatory) examinations of cumulative impacts to ocean ecosystems at a range of scales. There have been no integrated cumulative impact studies at the scale of the Mid-Atlantic region’s ocean. The lack of complete cumulative analyses at the local and regional scales is a result of the cost, data, and time needed to adequately undertake such a study. More work is needed to develop accurate and efficient ways of determining cumulative impacts that are most critical for decision-making.