{"id":2247,"date":"2026-06-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/?p=2247"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T20:10:02","slug":"new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/","title":{"rendered":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>From a North Carolina field visit to a national map of flood\u00a0patterns, new research shows wetlands reduce flood damages, and losing them has increased insured losses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This blog post was co-authored by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jesse-gourevitch-85513137\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jesse-gourevitch-85513137\/\">Jesse Gourevitch<\/a>,&nbsp;former EDF Economist, and&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/adam-gold\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Adam Gold<\/em><\/a><em>,&nbsp;Senior Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds Science.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a recent field visit&nbsp;in&nbsp;coastal&nbsp;North Carolina, state lawmakers saw two&nbsp;very different&nbsp;landscapes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One was an intact wetland\u2014a&nbsp;mostly wet&nbsp;habitat,&nbsp;home to&nbsp;unique&nbsp;soils and&nbsp;water-loving&nbsp;plants. Wetlands&nbsp;can hold&nbsp;stormwater, slow&nbsp;runoff,&nbsp;and help reduce&nbsp;the flow of&nbsp;floodwaters&nbsp;downstream during heavy rain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other was a neighborhood&nbsp;with&nbsp;upstream wetlands loss&nbsp;that&nbsp;has experienced&nbsp;frequent&nbsp;flooding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That contrast&nbsp;illustrates&nbsp;the central findings&nbsp;of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3\" id=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3\">new study<\/a>, published in&nbsp;<em>Nature Water<\/em>: wetlands reduce flood&nbsp;damages, and losing them has&nbsp;real costs&nbsp;for&nbsp;people&nbsp;and&nbsp;communities downstream.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3\" id=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3\">our study<\/a>, we found&nbsp;that&nbsp;wetland&nbsp;loss across the United States&nbsp;has&nbsp;increased residential flood insurance claim payments&nbsp;nationwide&nbsp;by an estimated&nbsp;<strong>$10.1 billion<\/strong>&nbsp;since 1985, equal to about&nbsp;<strong>9.0% of insured riverine flood&nbsp;<\/strong>losses.&nbsp;&nbsp;The highest added costs were concentrated in the Houston metropolitan area, southeastern&nbsp;Louisiana,&nbsp;and coastal Florida.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because&nbsp;the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41558-025-02396-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">covers only a fraction<\/a>&nbsp;of total flood losses&nbsp;to&nbsp;homes, the full costs of&nbsp;wetland loss are&nbsp;likely even&nbsp;higher.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For policymakers weighing land use decisions, wetland protections, conservation&nbsp;investments&nbsp;or flood insurance&nbsp;pricing, that number helps answer a question that has long been difficult to quantify: What is the economic value of wetlands in reducing flood damage to homeowners?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"2249\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy-480x320.jpg 480w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>As flooding becomes more frequent and severe, communities need reliable information about what reduces flood risk and what makes it worse,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>said Jesse Gourevitch,\u00a0former\u00a0economist at EDF and lead author of the study.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wetlands are natural infrastructure<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wetlands are sometimes described as&nbsp;\u201cnatural sponges.\u201d&nbsp;During heavy rain&nbsp;or major&nbsp;storms, they are vital to&nbsp;storing&nbsp;floodwaters&nbsp;and&nbsp;slowing&nbsp;its&nbsp;movement&nbsp;across the landscape.&nbsp;Land&nbsp;cover&nbsp;changes have consequences across&nbsp;watersheds,&nbsp;and&nbsp;changes&nbsp;to&nbsp;wetlands&nbsp;upstream can have significant&nbsp;downstream&nbsp;effects&nbsp;when&nbsp;storms hit.&nbsp;As we approach the beginning of hurricane&nbsp;season,&nbsp;this protection&nbsp;is especially critical.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our study, we looked at how the loss of wetlands upstream affects downstream&nbsp;riverine&nbsp;flood losses to residential properties.&nbsp;Using individual National Flood Insurance Program&nbsp;(NFIP)&nbsp;claims, local rainfall&nbsp;data&nbsp;and changes in wetland area across the country, we found that flood insurance claim payment amounts for individual residential properties increased by an average&nbsp;<strong>0.01% to 0.03% per hectare of upstream wetland loss<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That may sound&nbsp;small at first glance. But across thousands of places and decades of wetland loss, it&nbsp;adds up&nbsp;quickly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wetlands\u2019 value goes far beyond flood mitigation<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important to emphasize that this study measures only one part of wetlands\u2019 value: reducing insured riverine flood losses to residential properties.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wetlands also provide many other benefits, including improving water quality, storing carbon, supporting wildlife&nbsp;habitat&nbsp;and creating recreational opportunities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our analysis also does not include many other categories of flood damage, such as losses to commercial or government property, business interruption, uninsured&nbsp;losses&nbsp;or flooding&nbsp;from coastal storm surge.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So&nbsp;while the study\u2019s core estimate is significant, it is also conservative.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also found that the burden of wetland loss is not shared equally. Historical wetland loss disproportionately increased flood damages in&nbsp;<strong>lower-income communities<\/strong>&nbsp;and communities with higher shares of&nbsp;<strong>non-white residents<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why the NFIP connection matters<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our study uses claims data from the National Flood Insurance Program&nbsp;(NIFP), which&nbsp;underwrites&nbsp;90 \u2013 95% of&nbsp;flood insurance policies in the United States. That makes NFIP claims one of the clearest nationwide datasets available for&nbsp;observing&nbsp;flood losses to&nbsp;individual&nbsp;households&nbsp;over the last 40 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By linking wetland loss to NFIP claim payments, we were able to quantify one especially concrete part of wetlands\u2019 economic value: their role in reducing insured riverine flood losses to residential properties.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That matters&nbsp;to&nbsp;policy. Our findings can help inform federal benefit-cost analyses, state land use and wetland policy, conservation&nbsp;investments&nbsp;and flood insurance pricing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-scaled.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-2048x1153.png 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Wetlands-infographic-02-051526-1440x810.png 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A national study that can be explored locally<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wetland loss does not affect every community in the same way. In some places, losing even a small amount of wetland can significantly increase flood damage downstream. In others, the effect is smaller.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reflect that, we estimated&nbsp;the value of one hectare of wetlands in reducing flood damages to residential properties for each sub-watershed in the U.S.&nbsp;We found that the average value of wetlands for reducing residential flood losses is $15,738 per hectare&nbsp;of&nbsp;wetlands. In the top 10% of sub-watersheds, the&nbsp;value&nbsp;of wetlands&nbsp;is greater&nbsp;than&nbsp;$24,783,&nbsp;and in the top 1%&nbsp;of sub-watersheds,&nbsp;that value exceeds&nbsp;$301,268 per hectare.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also found that in 16% of sub-watersheds, the benefits of&nbsp;protecting&nbsp;wetlands for residential flood&nbsp;mitigation&nbsp;alone would outweigh the costs of conservation. And because wetlands provide many other benefits beyond flood reduction, the number of places where protection makes economic sense is&nbsp;likely much&nbsp;higher.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State&nbsp;and local leaders and policymakers can&nbsp;explore these findings in our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/maps\/wetlands-flood-reduction\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/maps\/wetlands-flood-reduction\/\">interactive web map<\/a>,&nbsp;which allows users to&nbsp;zoom in on&nbsp;specific watersheds&nbsp;and see&nbsp;where wetlands provide&nbsp;the highest&nbsp;flood&nbsp;protection&nbsp;benefits and where future wetland loss could&nbsp;create&nbsp;especially high downstream costs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"771\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy-1024x771.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy-1024x771.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy-1536x1157.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/Flooding_of_the_Guadalupe_River_near_Kerrville_Texas_in_2025-copy.jpg 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Developed areas that have experienced flooding illustrate what may be at stake when wetlands are filled or degraded upstream.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>\u201cWetlands act like natural sponges during heavy rain, storing floodwater and slowing runoff before it moves downstream,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;said Adam Gold, senior manager of coasts and&nbsp;watersheds&nbsp;science at EDF and co-author of the study.&nbsp;<em>\u201cYet wetlands continue to disappear, in part because the value of the services they provide is often overlooked. Our analysis helps fill that information gap.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What this means for policy<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wetland policy is often debated in legal, regulatory or land use terms. Our goal was to provide&nbsp;empirical&nbsp;evidence&nbsp;that shows&nbsp;what these decisions mean for people living downstream.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study also provides critical details that could inform the new federal definition of \u201cWaters of the United States\u201d (WOTUS) being proposed by the Trump Administration.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2023, a majority opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court&nbsp;<em>(Sackett v EPA<\/em>) drastically scaled back federal protections for America\u2019s nontidal wetlands, threatening the communities and ecosystems that depend on them for critical habitat and flood protection. Now, if&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.adp3222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Trump Administration&nbsp;new rule&nbsp;that&nbsp;would require a wetland to have long-term surface water in order to be protected<\/a>,&nbsp;goes into effect,&nbsp;up to 91% of non-tidal wetlands would be considered non-WOTUS wetlands. After accounting for state protections&nbsp;and&nbsp;conserved lands,&nbsp;our new study estimates that&nbsp;these non-WOTUS&nbsp;wetlands&nbsp;without&nbsp;additional&nbsp;protections&nbsp;provide about&nbsp;<strong>$177&nbsp;billion<\/strong>&nbsp;in flood mitigation benefits to residential properties alone.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/wetlands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">That matters<\/a>&nbsp;for federal agencies conducting rulemaking and economic analysis. It also matters for states, especially as their decisions about wetland protection may increasingly shape future flood risk and costs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What lawmakers saw in North Carolina offered a simple visual lesson. Our research provides broader evidence behind it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wetlands are not just open space waiting to be developed. They are part of the infrastructure that helps reduce flood damage. And when they&nbsp;disappear, households and communities bear the burden,&nbsp;and the costs,&nbsp;every time a storm hits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Explore the interactive map: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/maps\/wetlands-flood-reduction\/\">https:\/\/www.edf.org\/maps\/wetlands-flood-reduction\/ <\/a><br><strong>Read the study in&nbsp;<em>Nature Water<\/em>: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3\">https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44221-026-00656-3<\/a> <br><strong>Read the press release: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/media\/new-study-shows-wetlands-loss-has-increased-residential-flood-insurance-claim-payments-10  \">https:\/\/www.edf.org\/media\/new-study-shows-wetlands-loss-has-increased-residential-flood-insurance-claim-payments-10  <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From a North Carolina field visit to a national map of flood patterns, new research shows wetlands reduce flood damages, and losing them has increased insured losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152905,"featured_media":2249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105915,9532,43,1],"tags":[105931,105924,105948,105980,105917,105969,105979],"coauthors":[105951],"class_list":["post-2247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-climate-science","category-economics","category-uncategorized","tag-climate-policies","tag-economics","tag-flood-risk","tag-home-value","tag-insurance","tag-nature","tag-wetlands"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From a North Carolina field visit to a national map of flood patterns, new research shows wetlands reduce flood damages, and losing them has increased insured losses.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Forces\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Morgan Bomer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe\"},\"headline\":\"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1467,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/\\\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Climate Policies\",\"Economics\",\"Flood Risk\",\"Home value\",\"insurance\",\"Nature\",\"Wetlands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Climate Change\",\"Climate science\",\"Economics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/\",\"name\":\"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/\\\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/\\\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/\\\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/\",\"name\":\"Market Forces\",\"description\":\"Economic Incentives = Environmental Gains\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe\",\"name\":\"Morgan Bomer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=ga7ab5b01b789192b58f3a86e1c74bf05\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Morgan Bomer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/author\\\/mbomer\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces","og_description":"From a North Carolina field visit to a national map of flood patterns, new research shows wetlands reduce flood damages, and losing them has increased insured losses.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/","og_site_name":"Market Forces","article_published_time":"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Author","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Author","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/"},"author":{"name":"Morgan Bomer","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe"},"headline":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/"},"wordCount":1467,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg","keywords":["Climate Policies","Economics","Flood Risk","Home value","insurance","Nature","Wetlands"],"articleSection":["Climate Change","Climate science","Economics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/","name":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0 - Market Forces","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/\/55180672595_61cc8ca177_k-copy.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2026\/06\/01\/new-research-shows-whats-at-stake-when-wetlands-disappear\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New research shows\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0at stake when wetlands disappear\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/","name":"Market Forces","description":"Economic Incentives = Environmental Gains","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/6adbb24caec345d17c600b3be55e05fe","name":"Morgan Bomer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=ga7ab5b01b789192b58f3a86e1c74bf05","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/047b62df567126f85721e7b254a5eddb7719699a81a651dc41738078e4460760?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Morgan Bomer"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/author\/mbomer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152905"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2247"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2260,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2247\/revisions\/2260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2247"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}