Louisiana’s Wetlands Are Being Lost At The Rate Of One Football Field Every 38 Minutes

Science Daily ^ | 1-4-2008 | Louisiana State University.

[blam]

Louisiana’s Wetlands Are Being Lost At The Rate Of One Football Field Every 38 Minutes

ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2008) — LSU and Ohio State University will battle for the BCS National College Football Championship in the Superdome early next week, but if the game was held in the Louisiana wetlands instead, the entire field would disappear before halftime.

Louisiana’s wetlands are being lost at the rate of approximately one football field every 38 minutes. To fight against this rapid destruction, the two universities joined forces in 2003, forming an ongoing research partnership with the goal of rebuilding the vanishing coastal wetland ecosystem that makes up 30 percent of the nation’s total coastal marsh.

Researchers also aim to reduce the flow of nitrogen and other chemicals that pour into the Mississippi River each spring from America’s heartland. This causes an overabundance of nutrients that rob the water of oxygen, creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico – more than 975 square miles of low-oxygen water that limits the sustainable fisheries of the region.

“This is a multi-billion-dollar problem that affects our entire nation,” said LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe. “While we battle on the football field, we collaborate in the research field to tackle the issue of coastal wetlands loss.”

Louisiana’s wetlands help to make the state the nation’s leader in crude oil production and second in natural gas production, according to America’s Wetland Foundation. These fragile ecosystems also support 25 percent of the nation’s total commercial fishing haul and provide storm protection to five of the country’s largest ports. Wetlands are essential because of their capability to filter the nutrients that would contribute to the dead zone before they get carried into the Gulf; they’re also vital for hurricane protection in storm-sensitive areas like New Orleans.

“Louisiana has both the largest amount of wetland loss and the largest dead zone in the country,” said Robert Twilley, associate vice chancellor of research and economic development at LSU, director of the Coastal Systems and Society Agenda, professor of coastal sciences and leader of the Shell Coastal Environmental Modeling Laboratory, or CEML. “We’re working hard to rebuild our wetlands and reduce nutrients to the Gulf of Mexico, but we can’t do it alone.”

That’s where OSU comes in.

While LSU scientists focus on Louisiana, addressing the issues of dramatic wetland loss and the continuously growing dead zone, OSU researchers are developing wetlands upstream so that nutrient loads in the Mississippi that would increase the size of the dead zone will be dramatically reduced by the time they reach the delta region.

Adapted from materials provided by Louisiana State University.

[A Strict Constructionist]

This is not surprising to me. The Corps makes work by helping Congress with projects in their districts to maintain their support for more projects, most unneeded.

The break on the 17th. street canal that became a TV standard was in the back yard of a friend of mine. His interaction with the Corp could be the basis of a good book on boondoggles. This one canal and the MRGO could make a nice congressional investigation. Nothing happens without the Corps. Those on this forum that talk about La corruption should include the Corp as an enabler or at least co-conspirators.

[Tanniker Smith]

Okay, now they're complaining that there isn't enough water in Louisiana? Can they get some extra from New Orleans?

[Rb ver. 2.0]

There’s not much man can build that a good cat 5 hurricane can’t remove.

[UCANSEE2]

Louisiana call Nevada Lost and Found Department.

[scrabblehack]

Defintions for wetlands vary, but none is so restrictive as a swamp. Typically a wetland requires 10-14 days of standing water a year, along with appropriate vegetation (which is rather common). So if you had a puddle in your back yard for 2 weeks in a year, chances are you have a wetland.

[Onelifetogive]

No one will give you money to save a Swamp!

Also works with Jungle/Rainforest!

[Founding Father]

The modifications to the Mississippi river by the Corps of Engineers, the canals, etc. are largely the cause of the land loss.

You sir have the winning post.

The people of Louisiana wish to thank the Army Corps of Engineers for the destruction of their state.

[RightWhale]

Why are they playing football in wetlands?

[dayglored]

When I first came here, this was all swamp.

Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them.

It sank into the swamp.

So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp.

So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.

But the fourth one stayed up.

And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.

[NickFlooding]

I read a lot of cute posts to this article.

Here is another one to have some fun with.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/02/magazines/fortune/no_energycrisis.fortune/index.htm

[NickFlooding]

Twelve hours since I posted my reply and no more cute reply posts about Louisiana loosing her coastline? It would also seem that no one has the nuts and or guts to make sport the coming loss of 25% of America’s energy supply infrastructure?

Go figure.