Lost Land
Not only do the residents of New Orleans need the help of the Federal government, but so does the coast line. “We had a 50-year projection for wetlands loss as part of the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration plan,” said USGS scientist Jimmy Johnston, referring to the proposed $1.2 billion collection of restoration projects still awaiting congressional approval. “Guess what? That’s outdated. We went through 40 percent of that loss with these storm events.”The story goes on to detail further USGS findings:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ripped away 217 square miles of Louisiana’s fragile coastline, with each turning huge swaths of land to water overnight, accelerating a process that already posed grave threats to coastal communities, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Survey scientists compared satellite images taken in 2004 with similar images from October 2005 to match areas that were wetlands, undeveloped dry land and farmland with what looked like open water several weeks after the storms.
One of the reasons, if you are not aware, Katrina caused so much damage, is the traditional or natural coast line that used to protect New Orleans has disappeared. It needs to be rebuilt sooner rather then later and steps need to be put into place to ensure future erosion is at a much slower place.
No responses yet
