My major concern is financial. Although this may seem callous, investing in the wrong ideas now will surely cost us on a humanitarian level later. The purpose of this post is to answer the following question:
How much time and money should the United States government invest in rebuilding coastal communities, instead of financing mass-relocation's to safer environments?
I feel that this is the primary question we should be asking post-Katrina because New Orleans is not alone. As ocean levels continue to rise, hundreds, if not thousands of cities and towns will be facing similar situations in the coming century.
I realize that many wonderful people call the Gulf Coast their home. I understand that some families have lived on the ocean's edge for generations. When storms hit, they mourn their dead and rebuild. At some point, in the name of future generations, isn't it better to face the pain of departure, and move inland? Must we wait for Mother Nature to force her hand before we give in to her omnipresent power?
The following is a compilation of links and commentary related to my proposition. Please realize that I write this out of complete compassion and sympathy for the plight of the folks affected by Katrina. I am only trying to save their children's children from having to someday face a similar tragedy.
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After Katrina, Gulf Coast Still Vulnerable
This story, pulled from Discovery Channels website, had a couple insightful tidbits to offer.
According to "Colonel Edward Fleming, commander for the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers," the state of Louisiana "is losing 27 square miles of land a year." He admits that, at some point in the near future, the state government will have to decide when to rezone certain areas as off-limits for new construction, and offer buy-out for homes and businesses already in these spots.
At this point, there are still areas of New Orleans that have not been revitalized. Would now be a good time to re-evaluate whether we should be pushing more federal and state funds into these low-lying areas?
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One quote that seemed thrown into the story, but that fits well with my theory, was by Leonard Bahr, a scientist and blogger formally employed by the governors office. He states:
"'The model of bolstering the protections in New Orleans is inappropriate to be used across the rest of Louisiana. . . Once you build levees and start pumping, the rest is history. You're doomed to perpetual pumping.'" Overall, however, Bahr agrees with Army Corps of Engineers decision to spend $15 billion to protect New Orleans, because of its "unique" nature.
I think that Mr. Bahr's warning is ominous given current global conditions. It should be forwarded to all members of congress so that they can not claim ignorance should future "emergency" bills recommend billion dollar pumping systems.
As far as New Orleans being unique, I fear that every city facing rising tides will feel the same way.
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New Orleans depends upon a "buffer zone" to protect it from hurricanes. The wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico that "buffer" New Orleans have been depleted by Katrina. Usually, this sand is replenished by sediment flowing down the Mississippi River. Most of this "refill," if you will, is being blocked by all of the damns and levees Americans have built along the mighty river.
"According to a paper published in Nature Geoscience last summer, if sediment loads to the delta remain at current levels -- about 50 percent less than on an unobstructed river -- more than 3,900 square miles (2.5 million acres) of land will be lost by 2100." Unfortunately, "[e]ven if all of the river's sediment could proceed freely to the delta, sea level rise is outpacing sediment deposition by more than threefold, meaning delta lands are certain to disappear."
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What if Hurricane Katrina Hit New Orleans Today?
Next, I checked one of my other favorite sites for science-related news, LiveSceince.com. They had the above linked story on their home page.
The first thing I noticed was the mention of those wetlands early on in the article. "Over the last 70 years . . .an area of wetlands the size of Delaware has disappeared."
Following the hurricane, officials recognized the danger posed by this problem. In response, they created the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. This organization released a report last year recommending several measures to rectify the situation.
"Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to implement some of these measures. They plan to divert Mississippi River freshwater, nutrients and sediment to rebuild and sustain wetlands."
Read that again: They plan to divert freshwater, nutrients and sediment away from the Mississippi already damned and levee path to fix the problem. Basically, they plan to divert the diversion. At some point, the poor river isn't going to put up with being manipulated and contorted anymore.
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A new topic came up next: repairing the broken levees. Or, more accurately, creating a new "system" of hurricane protection. "When finished next year, the $14.45 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System will give New Orleans the most advanced defense against flooding in the city’s history."
As I edit this post, I am listening to General Odierno give a CNN interview. Sadly, when asked if he can ensure the safety of the folks in New Orleans once the levee work is complete, he said no.
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Needing some visual stimulation, I went to National Geographic's amazing website. They had an AWESOME photo gallery set up comparing locations along the Gulf Coast after the hurricane, and today. I pulled this quote from the caption for one of the pictures:
(Wall Against Katrina's Water)
"A federally mandated, five-year effort to rebuild and fortify the New Orleans levees—now close to completion—will feature a 350-mile-long (560-kilometer-long) ring of linked levees, floodwalls, gates, and pumps, according to the New York Times."
This description reminded me of stories I have read about medieval fortresses designed to last through epic sieges by attacking armies.
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Naturally, I checked the New York Times website next. The first story I found just listed all of the different kinds of coverage Katrina was getting across the air waves. Though interesting, it didn't offer any new perspectives on my specific topic.
The next story I happened upon, however, seemed perfect.
New Orleans Levees Nearly Ready, but Mistrusted
You really need to click this link to get an idea of how massive these new levees really are. I would need to quote the entire first half of the story to do adequate justice to their magnitude. But even given their impregnable, fortress-like qualities, there are still many skeptics.
"Robert G. Bea, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an author of a damning report on the levee failures, said that he has seen “lots of positive changes” in the corps but said 100-year protection “is not even close to what is needed.” The system needs a greater margin of safety, he said."
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So let's go back to my original question for a moment:
How much time and money should the United States government invest in rebuilding coastal communities, instead of financing mass-relocation's to safer environments?
Unfortunately, I can't even begin to offer an answer. But I will keep searching, and analyzing, in the hope that next time I come to this edit this post, I will be able to offer more than depressing facts.
What I DO know is that our representatives in Washington should be searching for an adequate answer as well. After spending billions of dollars, the best scientists and engineers all agree that there is no guarantee the great barrier constructed to protect New Orleans will hold against the remarkable wrath of mother nature.
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9/1
If I asked you what motto best defines American culture today, what would you say? Would "Sue 'em" come to mind? Probably. Because seeking to gain financial compensation for everything from spilled coffee to bad dry cleaning has become quite common place in today's "worship the almighty dollar" society.
Would you be surprised if I told you that folks are beginning to sue companies for extreme weather due to climate change? Probably not. Nothing involving the word "sue" can possibly surprise you anymore.
Well, surprise, err or not. It is happening.
From: Time to blame climate change for extreme weather?
"In 2005, victims of hurricane Katrina filed a lawsuit against a group of oil companies, claiming that they had created the environmental conditions in the Gulf of Mexico that strengthened Katrina. The case was dismissed in 2007, after it was ruled that the victims had no standing to sue because the harm could not be traced to individual defendants. That decision was reversed in 2009. But in June this year the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit again dismissed the case, this time because it did not have enough judges to form a quorum. In the process, the judges that were present ruled once more that the plaintiffs had no standing to sue."
How can victims point their finger at one single company, who acted at one particular point in time, for something that has been brewing for hundreds, if not thousands of years? Thankfully, judges have had the common sense to throw cases such as this out. But all it will take is one idiot to set a new precedent that can be used to clog our court system with weather related cases.
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9/13
Water shortages reach crisis levels in China
It seems that China can not damn its rivers quick enough. People in hundreds of cities are suffering from life-threatening water shortages, and there is little relief in sight. Take this example from just one city, Chifeng:
"In northern China this month, farm fields have developed cracks up to 10 meters (32.8 feet) deep. Farmers in Chifeng city have had to delay harvests to avoid injury, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. According to the Chifeng's hydrological bureau, 62 percent of the city's 51 reservoirs have run dry, Xinhua said. More than 250,000 people are short on drinking water."
Multiply this scenario by a couple hundred, and you will begin to understand the seriousness of the water problems China is facing.
Sadly, China is not the only country being affected by Beijing's choices about which rivers to divert.
"Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, India, Thailand and Vietnam say China's aggressive dam-building is depriving their citizens, especially subsistence farmers and other poor people, of water."
China needs to act fast, or risk even more sever repercussions in the future:
"Without dramatic changes in water use, tens of millions of Chinese will turn into environmental refugees over the next decade, the World Bank says."
I don't believe fighting mother nature is going to be the way for humans to win this battle. Unless we can learn to curtail our own breeding habits, our environment will no longer be able to sustain us. Humans have no natural predators. A look back at other, now extinct creatures, who lived n similar situations should teach us something about resource management, and birth control.
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9/23
North Dakota lake swallows land and buildings
Since the 1990's, Devil's Lake near Fargo, North Dakota has been rising. It has already consumed the two small towns of Penn and Churchs Ferry. There is simply no where for accumulated moisture in the lake to go. "The lake's sole natural outlet, a channel called the Tolna Coulee, is highly erodible and completely choked with sediment."
The only other "closed basin" lake in the U.S. is the Great Salt Lake in Utah. During the 1980's, high rainfall threatened to damage houses there. To protect these communities, the government spent millions of dollars installing pumps. A dry spell has since set in, and the pumps are currently sitting idle.
Back in ND, the situation has grown desperate. "In the tiny town of Minnewaukan, the lake was once 8 miles away. Today it is lapping at the community from three sides, and residents are begging for help. . . Proposals include moving the entire town to higher ground."
After reading the next quote, the latter part of the quote above will seem like an excellent idea.
"By the end of 2010, the federal government will have spent more than $1 billion to ease the threat, buying flooded property, building dikes and making other improvements."
$1 billion. On a single overflowing lake. Financially, America will simply not be able to keep this up. With the climate changing all around us, hundreds, possibly thousands of communities are going to be threatened by rising lakes, rivers, and coastlines. As hard as it is, folks are going to need to buy flood insurance, and move to higher ground. We are never going to win when we are fighting against Mother Nature.
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9/24
Groundwater Depletion Rate Accelerating Worldwide
- 25% of the sea level rise we are experiencing worldwide is due to increased usage, and eventual evaporation, of groundwater.
- 30% of the total freshwater available for agriculture is found below the ground. Less than 1% is above ground, in lakes and rivers. The remaining majority is locked in glaciers, and polar ice caps.
- "[T]he rate at which global groundwater stocks are shrinking has more than doubled between 1960 and 2000, increasing the amount lost from 126 to 283 cubic kilometers (30 to 68 cubic miles) of water per year. Because the total amount of groundwater in the world is unknown, it's hard to say how fast the global supply would vanish at this rate. But, if water was siphoned as rapidly from the Great Lakes, they would go bone-dry in around 80 years."
9/25
BBC News - Oceans divide over 1970s warming
The 1970's ocean warming alluded to in the title is actually quite insignificant, and not very entertaining to learn about. However, I did read about two new things.
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation: There is "a major ocean temperature cycle on decadal scales" according to Michael Schlesinger from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I think every ten years, there are measurable and predictable shifts in the oceans temperatures. I will have to do further research to find out for certain.
Great Salinity Anomalies (GSA): This refers to the rapid and unexplained incursion of freshwater into the oceans. There was a GSA in the North Atlantic in the 1970's. "In large enough quantities, this freshening can slow the Atlantic portion of the global pattern of currents known as the thermohaline circulation - in popular parlance, 'turning off the Gulf Stream', as in the movie The Day After Tomorrow."
So, although the topic of the title linked above was only mildly amusing, the rest of the article provided me with some intriguing, if slightly disturbing, food for thought.
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10/5
The Colorado River Runs Dry, By Sarah Zielinski, Smithsonian magazine, October 2010
Humans have managed to break a machine that has worked perfectly for 6 million years. For time unthinkable, the earth flourished. Sure, there were violent volcanoes, crashing tsunamis, and continent-shifting earthquakes. But these natural events only changed the terrain. They didn't break the nuts and bolts that keep the entire system running. We did that.
The Colorado River is a perfect example of one of these broken pieces. Reading about 130 foot drop in the waterline over the past decade made me think about my husband and I's first car. We didn't take very good care of it. We never gave it tune-ups, only rarely filled it's tires, and brought it in for oil changes thousands of miles over what the sticker on our windshield read. Yet, our young minds couldn't comprehend why the damn thing refused to run well. We would complain to the mechanic, who was probably looking at the sludgy, nearly empty oil tube (or whatever the oil holder on a car is called), and biting his tongue to keep from laughing, or yelling.
Unfortunately, we can't take our planets freshwater reserves to the mechanic. If we could, the bill would be steep, if the repairs could even be performed at all. Rivers are suppose to end at oceans and seas, and the Colorado is the third I have read about in the past month that dwindles to nothing long before reaching its destination.
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2050 seems to be an ominous year. In the article from Smithsonian magazine I linked above, 2050 is noted as the year when 2 billion people will live in water-stressed areas. In the story about livestock consumption I read and wrote about earlier, 2050 is the year that "the environmental consequences of livestock production could be responsible for 70 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions considered a safe threshold for the planet." This would leave very little for other emissions from transportation, electricity, etc. 2050 may seem like forever from now, but it is really only forty years away.
Some places are already suffering severe water shortages. Perth, Australia is spending millions of dollars building saltwater to freshwater conversion machines to combat the terrible drought it has been facing for nearly eight hundred years. Some places in South America are expected to lose their fresh water sources as soon as 2020, due to extremely fast glacial melting. (The Colorado River Runs Dry, By Sarah Zielinski, Smithsonian magazine, October 2010)
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10/16
IPCC aims for clarity and relevance in new report (BBC, by Richard Black, 10/15/2010)
Although the next big climate change report is not due out for another 3-4 years, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is already hard at work, planning the basic layout, and discussing new topics. This collaborative report is important because governments from around the world will base their policy decisions on the findings presented. After AR4 (the latest report to be released) faced hefty criticism, the IPCC is determined to improve both its methods, and final product.
There are two new challenges the authors intend to tackle with AR5 (the name of the new report). First, researchers want to study what influences natural cycles such as El Nino have on overall climactic shifts.
"The belief is that this process will make it easier for governments - and people - to assess how their lives may be affected by climate change, and so make better-informed policy choices."
Secondly, they will grapple with the question of whether current climate transformations may be permanent.
"[F[or the first time, AR5 will take a detailed look at whether some aspects of climate change will lead to transformations of the Earth's land, air and oceans that are irreversible on human timescales."
The latter of these made me think about this post. How many rivers will flood, and never recede? How many lake-infested landscapes will mutate into tumbleweed-prone deserts? That is where "adaptation" comes into play.
"With greenhouse gas emissions set to continue their rise as the global recession eases, there is growing acknowledgment that research on living with climate impacts - adaptation - is equally as important as studying ways of curbing emissions. Developing countries - particularly those experiencing what they believe to be climate impacts now - are especially adamant that adaptation must secure equal status to mitigation."
Scientists, and governments, finally seem to be catching on to what "conspiracy theorists" like me have been proclaiming for ages. Unfortunately, I believe that "adaptation" is likely to take the form of "migration." Maybe AR6 will tackle this third element of the puzzle.
Prudently, the authors of AR5 are including information pertinent to both the economic, and large societal impact of these transformations.
"Interactions between the physical manifestations of climate change and societal issues will be expanded in the third part of AR5, on options for mitigation - a segment that will also include evaluation of what various policy choices mean economically."
I will continue to watch for news on the development of this report, and keep this post updated.
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10/25
Biodegradable Styrofoam Made From Milk (Discovery News, Alyssa Daniegelis, 10/21/2010)
I remember hearing about casein a couple years ago from a person I met who worked at a mozzarella cheese factory. As I recall, tons of this protein was left over from the cheese-making process. It would be an amazing feat for scientists to create environmentally friendly packaging methods from this by-product. Not only would we stop seeing those horrendous styrofoam peanuts every time we open a package, but the planet would also benefit from less waste in general.
"According to the scientists, the cured, foamlike material is strong enough for commercial use and a third of it biodegraded within a month's time."
I think the argument that more cows would be needed just to produce casein (from the comments section) is far-fetched. Americans eat a ton of cheese, and finding a use for casein outside of glue seems like a step in the right direction to me. However, fungal alternatives*may also play a roll in the future of earth-friendly packaging.
"The mycelia, which are smaller than a human hair, surround and eat agricultural waste like buckwheet hulls. After about a week or so, tons of tiny white fibers appear. The material is then dried to halt the growing process, creating packaging with impressive durability that is also biodegradable and compostable."
Though it starts out like a science experiment gone wrong, this product-in-development could also change the way we ship and pack. I will keep this post updated if either of these products reach consumers.
*Packing With Shrooms, Not Styrofoam (Discovery News, by Alyssa Daniegelis, 4/16/2010)
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10/27
Spectacular New Species Found in Amazon: Slide Show (Discovery News)
Amazon Alive! (WWF)
In the past fifty years, humans have managed to destroy over 17% of the worlds largest rain forest and river basin, the Amazon. There can be no doubt about the culprits. "The main cause of this transformation is rapid expansion in regional and global markets for meat, soy, and biofuels. These have increased demand for land."
We cannot kid ourselves about how much of this deforestation is due to our love of a good steak. The number one culprit in most Amazonian countries is cattle ranching. "In 2003, Brazil surpassed Australia as the world's largest exporter of beef."
After meat, agriculture takes a close second on the list of major causes of forest conversion in the Amazon. It is often debated whether thousands of small, sustenance farms or a handful of mass-producers cause more damage. However, what is clear is a country's export records. "Brazil is the world's number one exporter of orange juice, ethanol, sugar, coffee, and soy." In Columbia, it was the production of cocoa for cocaine that accounted for over half of the deforestation in 1998. Though the article doesn't mention who consumes these products, I am certain the U.S. is high on the list.
Below is a list of facts I learned from reading the two articles linked above. It gives us an idea of what we risk losing if we continue in our wasteful ways:
- Though human consumption is the primary reason for deforestation, transportation and energy infrastructure projects also cause problems.
- Unlike governments, the Amazon doesn't recognize borders and boundaries. It must be sustained as a single unit. "In the Amazon, the whole is more than the sum of its parts."
- 320 indigenous groups, containing 2.7 million people, reside in the Amazon. Of those, 60 are either "uncontacted" or "living in voluntary isolation."
- There are two species of herbivore piranha that feed on an aquatic herb, instead of other fish. "According to Dr. Michel Jegu, one of the scientists who discovered the species, both piranhas are endemic to the area in which they were found, and are directly and highly dependent on the persistence of the Podostemaceae aquatic herbs on which they feed. . .Threats including hydroelectric dams, the effluents of mining, and the gathering of the weed for drug companies are increasing the pressures on this unique food source."
- Poison dart frogs got their name because of the practice, common in the Choco forest of Columbia, of poisoning blow darts by rubbing the back of the frog with the tip of a dart. However, only three frogs have been "documented as being used for this purpose," with plants more commonly serving as the source of the poison.
- 30% of snake species in the Amazon remain undescribed. "This means that more than 100 species could yet be discovered, with the total number of snakes exceeding 350."
- Not only monkeys throw poo - some spiders do to! Species in the Avicularia genius will occasionally eject excrement capable of hitting a perceived threat up to a meter away.
- In 2009, an ant species was confirmed to have no males. "[T]he ants have evolved to reproduce only when the queens clone themselves." Though this may seem like a blissful world, this "unique asexual reproduction and cloning behaviour" leads to a threatened existence.
- There is some good news contained in the report. '"In 2009, the Brazilian government announced that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon had dropped by 45%, and was the lowest on record since monitoring began 21 years ago. . . Furthermore, the Brazilian governments climate change policy indicates a commitment to reduce deforestation in the Amazon by 80% between 2006 and 2020."
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11/8
Honda looks to African grass to Resolve its Power Needs (The Wall Street Journal, by Michael Weir, 11/8/2010)
Like much of the rest of the developed world, the United Kingdom is in a terrible energy crunch. "Estimates of the size of the energy shortfall facing the U.K. from 2016 vary depending on assumptions about demand, but on current trends the gap could reach 30 gigawatts, equivalent to a third of current capacity." To counter this lack of power, the car maker Honda is looking at all options, including burning the "low maintenance grass," miscanthus.
But not everybody is jumping on board. Besides environmental concerns, farmers are not too keen about the three-year life cycle of the plant. Their initial investment would not see any profits for so long, and so much could go wrong in that time, that many seem unwilling to convert their fields. Others, like Robert Loughton, are doubtful of micanthus' ability to survive well in the southern U.K.
I linked this article because I found it interesting how even alternative energy sources can sometimes cause conflict.
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11/23
The Waterway That Brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth (Smithsonian Online, by Abigail Tucker, 11/22/2010)
"In the spring of 1621, Plymouth Colony’s Town Brook—the main water supply for the newly arrived Pilgrims—filled with silvery river herring swimming upstream to spawn. Squanto, the Indian interpreter, famously used the fish to teach the hungry colonists how to fertilize corn, by layering dead herring in with the seed. The resulting crop fueled festivities the following fall, at a celebration now known as the first Thanksgiving."
The descendants of this historic herring population can no longer maneuver through the damn-clogged waterways of coastal Massachusetts to reach their spawn point. Their survival is completely dependent on humans loading them into the flatbeds of pick-up trucks, and transporting them to the place they reproduce each year. Obviously, our ancestors gratitude didn't spark a desire to conserve.
Currently, there are 26,000 damns between Pennsylvania and Maine, most 10-20 feet high. I couldn't climb over a majority of them, and cringe at imagining a poor fish trying to flop it's body up that high. A vast majority of these damns are no longer in use, left behind when the industries that created them moved on. The human molestation of the freshwater streams and rivers of the East Coast started almost immediately upon the pilgrims arrival. At first, the constructs were mills, but eventually corn production moved south. Since no one was getting paid to remove them, the obstacles along the river were left to rot.
Today, despite possessing the knowledge of how devastating damns can be to local wildlife populations, only about 12 are being destroyed each year. This is partly due to the self-serving arguments of those opposed to damn removal. They view the remnants from our failure to clean-up after ourselves over the past four centuries as nostalgia to be preserved.
"[R]emoving the dams—which can mean draining historic millponds, not to mention bulldozing and replanting river channels—changes the aesthetics of rivers and eliminates structures that may trace their roots back centuries."
As Jim Baker stated, "'There’s plenty of brooks around and plenty of fish. But once you take out history, it’s never coming back.'" These sentiments are sadly reflective of a majority of humanity, it seems to me. Folks seem to think that someone else will always deal with problems. They place emotionally charged feelings for objects above the survival of our species.
I would argue we won't be around to appreciate history if we don't start conserving nature itself. The compromise reached in Town Brook, described in the last paragraph of the article, is a great start. But the remaining big damn means that herring will probably continue to need assistance to breed, via human vehicles, for the foreseeable future.
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