Read the Following Scenario and Answer the Question Below

Read the following scenario and answer the question below.
Wetlands provide a multitude of ecological, economic, and social benefits. They provide habitat for many organisms and are nurseries for many saltwater and freshwater fishes and shellfish. Wetlands also hold and slowly release floodwater and snow melt, recharge groundwater, act as cleansing filters, recycle nutrients, and provide recreation. As of 2000, the contiguous United States was estimated to have about 105 million acres of wetlands remaining. Over the past 60 years, it has lost over 16 million acres of wetlands, and the loss continues at about 58,000 acres annually. Nearly one- third of the loss is due to urban development, with the rest being nearly equally divided between rural development, agriculture, and silviculture (predominantly logging) . The southeastern United States is experiencing the greatest losses. The Emergency Wetlands Resources Act (EWR
A) of 1986 requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct status and trend studies of the nation's wetlands and to report the results to Congress each decade, with the overall goal being no more net loss of wetlands. EWRA also established Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge along Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana.
-Wetlands in the United States _____________

A) have decreased due to human development
B) have increased due to natural causes, such as floods and hurricanes
C) have decreased due to natural causes, such as floods and hurricanes
D) have increased due to human development
E) have stayed about the same over the past 40 years