Swamp Funk
Here Comes the Sun – Mardi Gras Float, New Orleans. Photo by Margie Perez.
New Orleans is not one of those places built to look like some other place and time, or a place like Disney World, that can be rebuilt. According to Mary Landrieu, the US Senator from Louisiana, it’s the real deal. There also isn’t a business in the U.S. that doesn’t in some way benefit from the marshes that make up the coastal region of Louisiana. If pressed, she is sure she could document this. However, if a single hurricane were to take the critical path for New Orleans she wouldn’t have to. There have been a number of close calls. But these marshes also provide some measure of protection against more frequent but less severe storms, and even normal wave action. As she went on to explain, numerous small waves can, over time, have an impact just as devastating as a tsunami.
Senator Landrieu’s remarks were made at an Environmental Science Seminar Series hosted by the American Meteorological Society, that I attended last week (6-19-05) in Washington DC – which was itself built on a swamp, but I digress. Other presenters were Thomas Knutson, a Research Scientist at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and Shirley Laska, Director of the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Orleans. Knutson provided an overview of what we know about the relationship between global warming and hurricanes. Laska provided an overview of the socioeconomic ramifications and responses to the threat. A few more highlights from my notes: (more)
An area half of the size of Manhattan is lost every year, key reasons being the development of canals and coastal facilities that support offshore oil and gas operations, the building of levees to control river flooding that also block the regular flow of sediment that would otherwise be building these marshes, and other structural measures needed to maintain the shipping channels and ports, and which prevent the delta from switching course – which it has done about 5 or 6 times over the past 5000 years. While all of these are vital to the national economy, and oil and gas operations in the Gulf are a significant source of revenue for the federal government, they have provided little benefit to the region itself, which leads the nation in poverty rates. The Louisiana marshes also provide vital habitat for most of the commercial fisheries of the Gulf. Senator Landrieu would therefore like Louisiana to receive a share of the revenue and is also requesting $30 billion to support a restoration plan for the marshes similar to that for the Florida Everglades, and to implement other measures that would help to reduce vulnerability to floods – not as charity, but in exchange for all of the services provided by the region’s ecosystem, and the very direct and tangible benefits that it provides to the nation as a whole.
Thomas Knutson presented data which shows that there is no clear evidence of a long term upward trend in hurricane frequency, but with the caveat that good hurricane data only goes back to 1944. The pattern is instead one of fluctuation between periods of high activity. As for whether hurricanes are increasing in intensity, there is a longer term data set for Sea Surface Temperature (SST), which shows a big jump around 1920, that appears to be the result of anthropogenic forcing. Since SST sets upper limits on hurricane intensity, given current and projected trends, this is likely to increase by one half of a category per 100 years.
Shirley Laska provided an overview of the diverse place-based communities and cultures that inhabit this region that also contains numerous historical buildings, and is the birthplace of jazz (she didn’t mention some of the other musical styles that also originated there). Given that the cultures are “place-based,” they would be unlikely to survive relocation. Out of a population of 4.75 million, 670,000 (almost 15%) have fishing licenses. It is estimated that 1 mile of marsh prevents 1 foot of storm surge. The risks from the loss of the marshes are of a “slow onset” type – a term which refers to disasters of the same kind as a drought which occur over a long period of time and are not immediately recognized. So it is expected to provide lessons that can help to more effectively respond to the hazard of global warming. For now, in New Orleans, it has become normal to expect floods when the sun is shining. In the event of a hurricane, decisions whether to evacuate always present a dilemma because evacuation requires 50 hour advance notice, when a storm is still in the Florida Keys, which makes false alarms inevitable.
Dramatic slides were shown that illustrate a comparison of the marsh area before the mid 1800s and the present, the Chandaleur Islands before and after hurricane George, some of the 463 pelicans killed by an oil spill that occurred after a hurricane last year, when an offshore oil and gas facility was flooded, and also a map of repeatedly flooded structures. Oil prices rose after damage to pipes during hurricane Ivan. For some history on the modifications of the river and the consequences of the Mississippi flood of 1927, she recommended a book called The Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood and How It Changed America
Oh, (in another digression) and to see Roberto Benigni make his way through the Louisiana swamps with Tom Waits and John Lurie, see the film “Down by Law” if you haven’t already. And for some Swamp-Funk in the DC area, stay tuned for upcoming performances by a new band, The Beat Hotel, which serves up music, dancin’& hot, with room service by The Bell Hop Horns….
