No the lack of the government to build a proper dyke along the Gulf
coast of Louisiana is to blame -- just ask the Dutch, see how much land
they reclaimed from the sea.
"The Angry Hierophant" <bghilliotti@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1125594523.686618.215460@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
New Orleans: Loss of wetlands opens floodgates to disaster
: By David Usborne
: Published: 01 September 2005
: The worst has happened in New Orleans and not everyone is surprised.
: For years, specialists have warned that the city, built partly below
: sea level and in an area of radically depleted wetlands, was a natural
: disaster waiting to happen. And when it did, they said, we would have
: no one to blame but ourselves.
:
: That the Crescent City is where it is does not make sense in the first
: place. But the first European settlers, in 1718, made the same
: calculation that generations have made ever since. The site was right
: for commerce, and commerce means dollars. In the battle between
dollars
: and nature, you know who wins.
:
: What has happened in recent decades has made matters worse. Not just
in
: New Orleans but all along the Gulf Coast, human encroachment has
: accelerated without pause. This has meant taming natural water flows -
: including the gradual straightening of the Mississippi itself - and
: draining wetlands.
:
: Among those lamenting past mistakes is John Barry, the author of
Rising
: Tide, a book about the Mississippi flood of 1927. "People have said
for
: a long time that we can't continue to do the things we're doing, but
: the reality is that we don't take natural disasters seriously until
: they happen," he said.
:
: Arguments are already breaking out over the connection between global
: warming and Katrina. Most agree the rising sea levels and temperatures
: may have contributed to the damage it caused. But many scientists say
: the real problem is what has been wrought on the ground in the Gulf
: Coast region itself. And most serious of all may be the loss of the
: wetlands. Wetlands, along the edges of rivers and near the coast
: itself, are vital for absorbing and storing floodwaters. As such, they
: provided New Orleans with a natural defence against storm surges such
: as the one generated by Katrina.
:
: But, according to the US Geological Survey, Louisiana has lost 1,900
: square miles of wetland in the past seven decades - an area larger
than
: the state of Rhode Island.
:
: The draining of the wetlands to make way for roads, malls, beach
: communities, marinas and condominiums has also meant shrinkage of the
: shoreline. Louisiana, in fact, loses 25 square miles of coast every
: year.
:
: General Robert Flowers, the head of the Corps of Engineers until last
: year, is concerned by the loss of a "natural storm protection", along
: Louisiana's coast. "With that loss of wetlands ... we had to build
: hurricane protection. I think a longer-term solution that replenishes
: Louisiana's wetlands will better serve us."
:
: It was to protect the city from hurricanes and disastrous floods that
: the levees and dams have been built. There are thousands of miles of
: them alongthe river. They usually do a fine job.
:
: Except there is a bad side-effect. The millions of tons of silt that
: flow down the Mississippi would once be deposited all along its edges
: and in the flood plains when it broke its banks. Those deposits that
: once replenished the Delta region are now missing and the Delta, along
: with New Orleans, is sinking. Barrier islands that protected the city
: are shrinking for the same reason.
:
: More people live in hurricane territory than ever before. More people
: to be hurt and more property to be damaged. Professor Kerry Emanuel of
: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: "We have to put stuff
: in harm's way for there to be a disaster, and we're good at doing
: that."
:
: The worst has happened in New Orleans and not everyone is surprised.
: For years, specialists have warned that the city, built partly below
: sea level and in an area of radically depleted wetlands, was a natural
: disaster waiting to happen. And when it did, they said, we would have
: no one to blame but ourselves.
:
: That the Crescent City is where it is does not make sense in the first
: place. But the first European settlers, in 1718, made the same
: calculation that generations have made ever since. The site was right
: for commerce, and commerce means dollars. In the battle between
dollars
: and nature, you know who wins.
:
: What has happened in recent decades has made matters worse. Not just
in
: New Orleans but all along the Gulf Coast, human encroachment has
: accelerated without pause. This has meant taming natural water flows -
: including the gradual straightening of the Mississippi itself - and
: draining wetlands.
:
: Among those lamenting past mistakes is John Barry, the author of
Rising
: Tide, a book about the Mississippi flood of 1927. "People have said
for
: a long time that we can't continue to do the things we're doing, but
: the reality is that we don't take natural disasters seriously until
: they happen," he said.
:
: Arguments are already breaking out over the connection between global
: warming and Katrina. Most agree the rising sea levels and temperatures
: may have contributed to the damage it caused. But many scientists say
: the real problem is what has been wrought on the ground in the Gulf
: Coast region itself. And most serious of all may be the loss of the
: wetlands. Wetlands, along the edges of rivers and near the coast
: itself, are vital for absorbing and storing floodwaters. As such, they
: provided New Orleans with a natural defence against storm surges such
: as the one generated by Katrina.
: But, according to the US Geological Survey, Louisiana has lost 1,900
: square miles of wetland in the past seven decades - an area larger
than
: the state of Rhode Island.
:
: The draining of the wetlands to make way for roads, malls, beach
: communities, marinas and condominiums has also meant shrinkage of the
: shoreline. Louisiana, in fact, loses 25 square miles of coast every
: year.
:
: General Robert Flowers, the head of the Corps of Engineers until last
: year, is concerned by the loss of a "natural storm protection", along
: Louisiana's coast. "With that loss of wetlands ... we had to build
: hurricane protection. I think a longer-term solution that replenishes
: Louisiana's wetlands will better serve us."
:
: It was to protect the city from hurricanes and disastrous floods that
: the levees and dams have been built. There are thousands of miles of
: them alongthe river. They usually do a fine job.
:
: Except there is a bad side-effect. The millions of tons of silt that
: flow down the Mississippi would once be deposited all along its edges
: and in the flood plains when it broke its banks. Those deposits that
: once replenished the Delta region are now missing and the Delta, along
: with New Orleans, is sinking. Barrier islands that protected the city
: are shrinking for the same reason.
:
: More people live in hurricane territory than ever before. More people
: to be hurt and more property to be damaged. Professor Kerry Emanuel of
: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: "We have to put stuff
: in harm's way for there to be a disaster, and we're good at doing
: that."
:
: THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU ****ING ASSHOLES WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE SO
COOL
: THAT YOU CAN KILL AND DESTROY ANY ANIMAL OR HABITAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR
: HUMANITY'S SAKE.
:
: **** AMERICA.
:
: **** THE WH*RE OF B*BYL*N. __
: |_|__
: __| |
:
|
