The situation in Louisiana is worrying. As Digital Journal’s Karen Graham reported in April 2017: “On Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an emergency proclamation declaring the Louisiana Coast in a state of crisis and emergency. The emergency proclamation was sent to President Trump and members of Congress.” The coastal Erosion situation in Louisiana is the process of steady depletion of wetlands along the state’s coastline in marshes, swamps, and barrier islands.
The map reveals that Louisana’s coastline is sinking 50 percent faster than was estimated two years ago. The new map was created by Professor Torbjörn Törnqvist.
The map also reveals that in some areas, such as the region along the Mississippi River south of New Orleans, the rate is 12 millimeters per year. According to Professor Törnqvist: “The novel aspect of this study is that it provides a map that shows subsidence rates as observed at the land surface.”
There are the multiple factors accounting for the erosion; however, a major one is the blockage of traditionally occurring deposits of fresh water and silt from the river caused by human crated levees. It is hoped the new map will aid researchers and policy makers in the hunt for solutions to the coastal wetland loss crisis. This includes planning of large sediment diversions that are intended to make portions of Louisiana’s coast more sustainable.
The map has been reported to the journal of the Geological Society of America, GSA Today, under the heading: “A New Subsidence Map for Coastal Louisiana.”
