Ever since the devastation of Katrina; Louisiana has been rapidly repairing their levees in hope of restoring security to their coastline. The 15,000 square miles of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands act as natural buffers from storm surges. The fresh floodwater of the Mississippi River replenished the wetlands with sediment, filling them up and moving out the saltwater that was blown in by hurricanes. But ever since the 30’s when the levees were built, saltwater from the gulf has flowed in killing freshwater habitats and in doing so it consequently has been eating away at the coastline. Southeast Louisiana is now the fastest disappearing land mass in the WORLD. Scientists predict that by 2050 another 600,000 acres, roughly the size of Rhode Island will be gone. With the rising sea levels, stronger and more abundant hurricanes in our near future global warming is major crisis not just for Louisiana but for the entire US as well.
It is totally baffling to see this happen in our own country, a large supply of our oil comes from a few miles off of the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, and with the oil demand it seems if the would be taking better care of the coast. Even though a large amount of money has already been set aside to assist in the restoration of the Louisiana coastline, why is it that the US only takes action after the fact that thousands of miles of the coastline are already gone and are irreplaceable. I think that before the US moves in any direction, it really needs to take a look place where it’s people call home and take steps in a direction that will preserve and conserve what we have for future generations and for the wellbeing of the US.
www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=5677197&page=1
1 comment:
This article really brought up some good points. It is amazing how much global warming is affecting the entire US.
Post a Comment