New Orleans' Levees Can No Longer Protect City

The city is part of “the most physically vulnerable coastline in the world.” This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded. Ongoing sea-level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century.” Low-lying southern Louisiana faces multiple threats, with rising sea levels driven by global heating, compounded by strengthening hurricanes, also a feature of the climate crisis, and the gradual subsidence of a coastline that has been carved apart by the oil and gas industry. Why we still don’t yet know how bad climate migration will get Southern Louisiana is facing 3–7 meters of sea-level rise and the loss of three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands, which will cause the shoreline “to migrate as much as 100 km (62 miles) inland,” thereby stranding New Orleans and Baton Rouge, according to the study, which compared today’s rising global temperatures with a period of similar heat 125,000 years ago that caused a rise in sea level. This scenario makes the region the “most physically vulnerable coastal zone in the world,” the researchers state, and requires immediate action to prepare a smooth transition for people away from New Orleans, which has a population Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword The Supreme Court broke democracy by saying the quiet part out loud The backlash to Billie Eilish’s vegan comments explains a lot about the American left (and everyone else) How a “super El Niño” could create record-breaking warming Every airline is Spirit Airlines now This is the title for the native ad Glycol vapors, explained. From taxes on nicotine to hotel rooms, states are looking for ways to pay the skyrocketing bill. El Niño is coming. And its impacts may last far longer than it does. What you didn’t know about Mennonites, soy, and Bolivia. The link between gun sales and conservation, explained. The cognitive trap that’s making us underestimate the Iran crisis. This is the title for the native ad