Especially when humans caused it which is what happened.
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Lousiana hit by rising sea levels
- Thread starter Saigon
- Start date
Saigon
Gold Member
- Thread starter
- #22
Especially when humans caused it which is what happened.Wowzers! Coastal erosion! That's unprecedented in human history
Exactly.
I see some very negative and dismissive attitudes towards environemtanlism in general and climate change science in particular on this board, and yet problems like we see in Louisiana are without question the result of human acitivity.
This would have been much, much cheaper to prevent than repair, but for generations people simply haven't cared about the warning signs. And now the area is screwed, possibly irrepairably.
SSDD
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2012
- 16,672
- 1,966
- 280
Wowzers! Coastal erosion! That's unprecedented in human history
Swampland tends to sink...imagine that. The architects should have looked to Venice as an example.
SSDD
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2012
- 16,672
- 1,966
- 280
The present rate is unprecedented.
http://www.fws.gov/nc-es/ecoconf/williams paper.pdf
UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC PROCESSES OF COASTAL LAND LOSS FOR
THE RESTORATION OF NORTH AMERICA'S LARGEST RIVER DELTA-THE
MISSISSIPPI
PENLAND, Shea, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, [email protected] and
WILLIAMS, S. Jeffress, Coastal and Marine Geology Team - Woods Hole, U.S. Geological
Survey, 384 Woods Hole Rd, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
The Mississippi River delta is a vital natural resource to the United States. This resource is at
risk of vanishing, between 1932 and 1990 this delta lost over 680,000 acres of critical habitatswamps,
marshes, and barrier islands. Understanding the critical processes of land loss is
essential to the rescue of this national treasure. Over the last 20 years the USGS in cooperation
with the USACE and Louisiana universities have investigated processes of erosion,
submergence, and man's impacts in addition to geologic framework studies of Holocene coastal
evolution and sediment resources. This information is key to developing successful restoration
strategies and projects. Without the implementation of significant restoration programs the
federal and state natural resource trustees predict the economic impact of the coastal land loss
crisis will exceed $ 100 billion by the year 2050. The Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection, and
Restoration Act (CWPPRA) of 1990 was a start with $ 40 million per year dedicated to
restoration activities. From CWPPRA successful freshwater diversions, marsh creation, and
barrier island restoration projects were implemented. In 1998 the federal and state natural
resource trustees realized a larger restoration program was needed to reverse the magnitude of
Louisiana's land loss problem. As a result, the Coast 2050 initiative was started to implement the
largest coastal restoration program in the U.S., $ 14 billion through the Water Resources
Development Act.
Nothing in the modern climate is unprecedented....except maybe the speed at which climate wackaloons can spread threats, misinformation, and outright lies.
The absolute level of CO2 is unprecedented in at least one million years. The rate of temperature increase is unprecedented at least since the KT boundary event, 65 million years ago. The rate of oceanic pH decrease appears to be completely unprecedented:
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/22-4_kump.pdf
Abstract. Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon
dioxide (CO2) by fossil fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy
evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long
warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent
the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone;
accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters
supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid
additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the
end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters
to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning.
This study has a good explanation of the scale of time required for CaCO3 weathering to compensate for elevated acidity levels in the ocean.
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/22-4_kump.pdf
Abstract. Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon
dioxide (CO2) by fossil fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy
evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long
warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent
the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone;
accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters
supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid
additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the
end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters
to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning.
This study has a good explanation of the scale of time required for CaCO3 weathering to compensate for elevated acidity levels in the ocean.
CrusaderFrank
Diamond Member
- May 20, 2009
- 146,658
- 69,794
- 2,330
Especially when humans caused it which is what happened.Wowzers! Coastal erosion! That's unprecedented in human history
Did you say "Human caused"? Can you please tell us how this happened?
CrusaderFrank
Diamond Member
- May 20, 2009
- 146,658
- 69,794
- 2,330
Especially when humans caused it which is what happened.Wowzers! Coastal erosion! That's unprecedented in human history
Exactly.
I see some very negative and dismissive attitudes towards environemtanlism in general and climate change science in particular on this board, and yet problems like we see in Louisiana are without question the result of human acitivity.
This would have been much, much cheaper to prevent than repair, but for generations people simply haven't cared about the warning signs. And now the area is screwed, possibly irrepairably.
We're only dismissive because blaming receding swamps on ManMade Global Warming is totally moronic. You get that, right?
CrusaderFrank
Diamond Member
- May 20, 2009
- 146,658
- 69,794
- 2,330
The absolute level of CO2 is unprecedented in at least one million years. The rate of temperature increase is unprecedented at least since the KT boundary event, 65 million years ago. The rate of oceanic pH decrease appears to be completely unprecedented:
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/22-4_kump.pdf
Abstract. Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon
dioxide (CO2) by fossil fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy
evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long
warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent
the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone;
accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters
supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid
additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the
end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters
to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning.
This study has a good explanation of the scale of time required for CaCO3 weathering to compensate for elevated acidity levels in the ocean.
...and after 500,000,000 years of observations, CO2 still does not drive climate on planet Earth
Loss of the wetlands
The Wetland Loss of Coastal Louisiana Due to Human Activities. Scene
The many benefits of the wetlands found in this region were not recognized by a majority of policy makers early in the 20th century. Wetlands provide many important ecological services including flood control, fisheries production, carbon storage, water filtration and enhanced disagreement over the relative importance of these factors,[8] although it is probably safe to say that the two major factors now acting are subsidence, mostly from lack of sediment, and salt water intrusion from canals dredged to service oil and gas wells and facilitate oil and gas exploration. Further wetland loss is attributed to the construction of the now-closed Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which introduced salt water into freshwater and intermediate marshes and facilitated significant erosion.[9] A brief explanation of various causes follows.
Subsidence of the coast is certainly occurring. Some people blame the direct effects of oil and gas extraction. The logic is that as billions of barrels of oil and saltwater and as trillions of cubic feet of gas were removed from the subterranean structures in which they had accumulated over millions of years, these structures lost their ability to support the weight of the earth above.[citation needed] As these structures slowly collapsed, the soil above gradually subsided. The wetlands on the surface began to sink into the gulf waters. Others argue that subsidence is a natural process in deltas, as sediments compress, and that the real problem is the lack of flood waters that would normally deposit new layers of sediment.[10][11] The role of hurricanes is also a matter of disagreement; some studies show that hurricanes actually build elevation in marshes.[12] A new and important factor is rising sea levels associated with global warming.[13]
An extensive levee system aided by locks and dams has been developed in the waterways of the lower Mississippi River.[14] The levees, designed to prevent flooding along the waterways, direct drainage water directly into the Gulf of Mexico and where silt is directed from its mouth directly into the Gulf of Mexico. With no new accretion and with steady subsidence, the wetlands slowly are replaced by open water. As a result of this engineering, large areas of marsh are being lost to the ocean. Since 1930 water has consumed more than 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²) of the state's land. This loss equates to the disappearance of 25 square miles (65 km²) of wetlands each year or a football field sized area every 30 minutes. This loss can be reversed, at least in some areas, but only with large scale restoration, including the removal of levees to allow the Mississippi River to carry silt into these areas[2][15]
Another factor that damaged wetlands was large scale logging, particularly the extensive logging of cypress forests in the early 1900s.[16] One early logger described it this way: "We just use the old method of going in and cutting down the swamp and tearing it up and bringing the cypress out. When a man's in here with all the heavy equipment, he might as well cut everything he can make a board foot out of; we're not ever coming back in here again"[17] This logging often required construction of canals, which, once the logging was finished, allowed salt water to enter the wetlands and prevent regeneration of the cypress.[3]
As if these problems were not enough, the introduction of nutria from South America in the 1930s provided an entirely new species of grazing mammal. Although only a few escaped, there are now millions.[18][19] Natural grazing by muskrat was now accelerated by grazing from nutria. By removing plants, nutria both cause loss of vegetation, and, perhaps more seriously, a loss of dead organic matter which would otherwise accumulate as peat and raise the level of the marsh[20] One of the most important natural controls on nutria is large alligators, which may provide a useful tool for biological control of nutria, and therefore for reduced impacts of grazing.[21]
Southern Louisiana's disappearing wetlands have a broad impact ranging from cultural to economic. Commercial fishing in Louisiana accounts for more than 300 million dollars of the state's economy. More than 70% of that amount stems from species such as shrimp, oysters and blue crabs that count on the coastal wetlands as a nursery for their young. Annually Louisiana sells more than 330,000 hunting licenses and 900,000 fishing licenses to men and women who depend on the wetlands as a habitat for their game. Additional recreational activities such as boating, swimming, camping, hiking, birding, photography and painting are abundant in wetland areas. Wetlands host a variety of trees such as the Bald Cypress, Tupelo Gum and cottonwood. Other plants such as the Dwarf Palmetto and Wax Myrtle and submerged aquatic plants such as Vallisneria and Ruppia are native to Louisiana wetlands. Wetland plants act as natural filters, helping to remove heavy metals, sewage, and pesticides from polluted water before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Animal species native to these areas include Osprey, Herons, Egrets, Alligators, and Beavers. Although there are several naturally occurring forces that adversely affect the wetland regions of Louisiana, many believe it is human intervention that has caused the majority of the decline.[22]
In summary, prior to the building of levees on the Mississippi River, the wetlands were kept in balance by occasional floods, which fill the area with sediment, and subsidence, the sinking of land. After the levees were built, however, flood sediment flowed directly into the Gulf of Mexico. This subsidence along with the recent sea level rise tipped the balance toward subsidence rather than marsh growth. This, along with the canals built in the area, caused decline of the wetlands and also caused less weakening of and less protection from recent hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina.[22] The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has developed a comprehensive management plan for the eastern regions of the Louisiana coast, placing emphasis upon restoration of riverine habitats, cypress swamps and fringing marsh. This could be a model applied to other coastal regions. Wetlands of Louisiana - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
The Wetland Loss of Coastal Louisiana Due to Human Activities. Scene
The many benefits of the wetlands found in this region were not recognized by a majority of policy makers early in the 20th century. Wetlands provide many important ecological services including flood control, fisheries production, carbon storage, water filtration and enhanced disagreement over the relative importance of these factors,[8] although it is probably safe to say that the two major factors now acting are subsidence, mostly from lack of sediment, and salt water intrusion from canals dredged to service oil and gas wells and facilitate oil and gas exploration. Further wetland loss is attributed to the construction of the now-closed Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, which introduced salt water into freshwater and intermediate marshes and facilitated significant erosion.[9] A brief explanation of various causes follows.
Subsidence of the coast is certainly occurring. Some people blame the direct effects of oil and gas extraction. The logic is that as billions of barrels of oil and saltwater and as trillions of cubic feet of gas were removed from the subterranean structures in which they had accumulated over millions of years, these structures lost their ability to support the weight of the earth above.[citation needed] As these structures slowly collapsed, the soil above gradually subsided. The wetlands on the surface began to sink into the gulf waters. Others argue that subsidence is a natural process in deltas, as sediments compress, and that the real problem is the lack of flood waters that would normally deposit new layers of sediment.[10][11] The role of hurricanes is also a matter of disagreement; some studies show that hurricanes actually build elevation in marshes.[12] A new and important factor is rising sea levels associated with global warming.[13]
An extensive levee system aided by locks and dams has been developed in the waterways of the lower Mississippi River.[14] The levees, designed to prevent flooding along the waterways, direct drainage water directly into the Gulf of Mexico and where silt is directed from its mouth directly into the Gulf of Mexico. With no new accretion and with steady subsidence, the wetlands slowly are replaced by open water. As a result of this engineering, large areas of marsh are being lost to the ocean. Since 1930 water has consumed more than 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²) of the state's land. This loss equates to the disappearance of 25 square miles (65 km²) of wetlands each year or a football field sized area every 30 minutes. This loss can be reversed, at least in some areas, but only with large scale restoration, including the removal of levees to allow the Mississippi River to carry silt into these areas[2][15]
Another factor that damaged wetlands was large scale logging, particularly the extensive logging of cypress forests in the early 1900s.[16] One early logger described it this way: "We just use the old method of going in and cutting down the swamp and tearing it up and bringing the cypress out. When a man's in here with all the heavy equipment, he might as well cut everything he can make a board foot out of; we're not ever coming back in here again"[17] This logging often required construction of canals, which, once the logging was finished, allowed salt water to enter the wetlands and prevent regeneration of the cypress.[3]
As if these problems were not enough, the introduction of nutria from South America in the 1930s provided an entirely new species of grazing mammal. Although only a few escaped, there are now millions.[18][19] Natural grazing by muskrat was now accelerated by grazing from nutria. By removing plants, nutria both cause loss of vegetation, and, perhaps more seriously, a loss of dead organic matter which would otherwise accumulate as peat and raise the level of the marsh[20] One of the most important natural controls on nutria is large alligators, which may provide a useful tool for biological control of nutria, and therefore for reduced impacts of grazing.[21]
Southern Louisiana's disappearing wetlands have a broad impact ranging from cultural to economic. Commercial fishing in Louisiana accounts for more than 300 million dollars of the state's economy. More than 70% of that amount stems from species such as shrimp, oysters and blue crabs that count on the coastal wetlands as a nursery for their young. Annually Louisiana sells more than 330,000 hunting licenses and 900,000 fishing licenses to men and women who depend on the wetlands as a habitat for their game. Additional recreational activities such as boating, swimming, camping, hiking, birding, photography and painting are abundant in wetland areas. Wetlands host a variety of trees such as the Bald Cypress, Tupelo Gum and cottonwood. Other plants such as the Dwarf Palmetto and Wax Myrtle and submerged aquatic plants such as Vallisneria and Ruppia are native to Louisiana wetlands. Wetland plants act as natural filters, helping to remove heavy metals, sewage, and pesticides from polluted water before reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Animal species native to these areas include Osprey, Herons, Egrets, Alligators, and Beavers. Although there are several naturally occurring forces that adversely affect the wetland regions of Louisiana, many believe it is human intervention that has caused the majority of the decline.[22]
In summary, prior to the building of levees on the Mississippi River, the wetlands were kept in balance by occasional floods, which fill the area with sediment, and subsidence, the sinking of land. After the levees were built, however, flood sediment flowed directly into the Gulf of Mexico. This subsidence along with the recent sea level rise tipped the balance toward subsidence rather than marsh growth. This, along with the canals built in the area, caused decline of the wetlands and also caused less weakening of and less protection from recent hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina.[22] The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has developed a comprehensive management plan for the eastern regions of the Louisiana coast, placing emphasis upon restoration of riverine habitats, cypress swamps and fringing marsh. This could be a model applied to other coastal regions. Wetlands of Louisiana - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
CrusaderFrank
Diamond Member
- May 20, 2009
- 146,658
- 69,794
- 2,330
The absolute level of CO2 is unprecedented in at least one million years. The rate of temperature increase is unprecedented at least since the KT boundary event, 65 million years ago. The rate of oceanic pH decrease appears to be completely unprecedented:
http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/22-4_kump.pdf
Abstract. Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon
dioxide (CO2) by fossil fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy
evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long
warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent
the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone;
accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters
supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid
additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the
end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene
Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters
to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning.
This study has a good explanation of the scale of time required for CaCO3 weathering to compensate for elevated acidity levels in the ocean.
Big deal. The "pause" shows categorically that CO2 has no measurable effect on temperature.
Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
SSDD
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2012
- 16,672
- 1,966
- 280
Big deal. The "pause" shows categorically that CO2 has no measurable effect on temperature.
Only if you possess critical thinking skills.
A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
You should look at the real causes of the wetland degradation instead of stupid propaganda. You might actually learn something that way.
SSDD
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2012
- 16,672
- 1,966
- 280
A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
It isn't happening due to climate change...failure of critical thinking skills on your part.
Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
You should look at the real causes of the wetland degradation instead of stupid propaganda. You might actually learn something that way.
Thanks. Being an academic wetland conservation is certainly a good use of my time, I'll get right on that.
Saigon
Gold Member
- Thread starter
- #37
Meanwhile, the longer problems with wetland degradation are ignored, the more severe the problems become. More homes are lost, more sources of income are lost.
The next time you think jamming your fingers in your ears is a cost-free and effective way of dealing with environmental issues - think again.
The next time you think jamming your fingers in your ears is a cost-free and effective way of dealing with environmental issues - think again.
No, just not by the causes you claim.A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
CrusaderFrank
Diamond Member
- May 20, 2009
- 146,658
- 69,794
- 2,330
Meanwhile, the longer problems with wetland degradation are ignored, the more severe the problems become. More homes are lost, more sources of income are lost.
The next time you think jamming your fingers in your ears is a cost-free and effective way of dealing with environmental issues - think again.
Yes, let's shut down the US economy to combat "wetland degradation"
A fascinating article and video by the BBC on the impact of rising sea levels and irrigation on the US coastline...
Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
The US state of Louisiana is slowly disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico as its fragile wetlands are eroded by rising sea levels.
Approximately 75 square kilometres are lost each year and the US Geological Survey has warned that the entire habitat - which represents 40% of all wetlands in the US - could be destroyed within 200 years.
The loss is partly down to natural evolutionary processes, but experts say human behaviour - including dredging for canals and the draining of the wetlands for development and agriculture - has made the region more vulnerable to storm surges.
BBC News - Life on a Louisiana island slowly disappearing into the sea
That's ok though, the conservatives inform us it isn't happening.
You should look at the real causes of the wetland degradation instead of stupid propaganda. You might actually learn something that way.
Thanks. Being an academic wetland conservation is certainly a good use of my time, I'll get right on that.
That would make you an extremist.
We wouldn't want that.
Best to experience a happy medium and just read up on the subject.
Mkay???
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