How Did The Mississippi River Affect Louisiana

Geologically speaking, Louisiana is a very young state. Environmentally speaking, Louisiana is a very fragile state. Louisiana has always been dependent upon the nutrient rich deposits from the Mississippi River to build up the land. Centuries ago the Mississippi River periodically changed its course, building up Louisiana one delta at a time. The erosional forces of the Gulf of Mexico and annual hurricanes depleted Louisiana’s coastline, but the mighty Mississippi River would replenish the land losses. Such is the relationship that forces of nature have with one another. Place mankind in the mix, and the relationship becomes stressed and dysfunctional. The present day Louisiana coastline is a mere shadow of its former self. Let’s look

In this paper I will inform you with a few of these events and topics such as the Civil war, slavery, as well as facts of the state. I hope my readers walk away with a new respect and outlook of Mississippi and learn how the past can affect the future, as well as the beauty.

Numerous different aspects were altered due to the ruckus of Hurricane Katrina. The first major aspect was housing and location. Katrina nearly demolished 300,000 homes. The ascending sea level along the coast resulting from onshore winds is a storm surge. With a twenty-two foot storm surge in New Orleans and a twenty-seven foot storm surge in Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina averaged a shocking twelve foot storm surge. As a storm surge’s footage increases, the surge will continue to move inland farther and farther. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge is documented as moving inland a total of twelve miles into the state of Mississippi (FAQS, 2013). Hurricane Katrina impacted a total of seven states. Five of these states were Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Kentucky and Ohio were two more states affected but in a different way. Because of the tremendous amount of water, Kentucky and Ohio were victims of the Mississippi River flooding. Some states experienced more extreme destruction than others. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana experienced Hurricane Katrina’s wrath firsthand. These three southern states were affected the worst by the massive storm (FAQS, 2013). Mississippi’s forest industry experienced a great amount of destruction losing 1.3 million acres of valuable forest land. The main cause of destruction in New Orleans was blamed on the failure of the levee system to stand its ground

The characteristic warming climate of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene resulted in rising sea levels which contributed to the formation of the various deltas in the New Orleans area (Dunbar, Britsch, 2008). The natural formation of these deltas produced coastal wetlands that represent 30% of coastal wetlands currently in the United States (Cigler, 2007). In addition to these wetlands, the Mississippi River was surrounded by substantial forest growth (Pabis, 1998).

The Old River flows from the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya River. To regulate this flow, the Old River is dammed by the Old River Control Structure, which is an effort by the Army Corps to keep the Mississippi River from giving most of its water to the Atchafalaya River. If that were to occur, Morgan City (a town of 12,000 that sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River) would be underwater and New Orleans would lose its most vital asset in the Mississippi River. To New Orleans, the Mississippi River means financial success, as New Orleans is a transportation hub. Baton Rouge, the state capital of Louisiana, also sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. Baton Rouge originally had an economy based on natural gas, to which the river was vital in a transportation aspect. Now, the state capital has an economy with many different sectors. Marucci Sports, best known for making baseball bats, calls Baton Rouge home. The Atchafalaya River would struggle to support economies that require transportation like the Mississippi River, as it doesn’t run the length of the United States. The Atchafalaya River is 137 miles long, compared to the Mississippi’s 2,320 miles, running from where the Red River and Old River meet all the way to the Atchafalaya Bay. The Atchafalaya Bay is connected directly to the Gulf of Mexico, which differs from the Mississippi River’s situation

Another vital component of agriculture that drove the Mississippi Delta into poverty was the eleven major floods. Even though these floods were historical, they still hindered the agricultural development of the Mississippi Delta preventing the creation of more jobs. One of the worst floods that devastated the Delta was the flooding of the Mississippi River in 1927. The flood left roughly 16.6 million acres, about 162,000

On August 12, the Americans of Louisiana woke up with water in their houses. A week passed, and now thousands evacuated the flooded regions around Baton Rouge. 40,000 homes were ravaged, and several were found deceased. People were stranded on highways and rooftops, trapped in deep waters infested with rodents and snakes, and floating through the destruction onto mattresses. The state has been declared a disaster area. However, national media seems entirely uninterested with this flooding - after all, it was not the first time Lousiana had to endure through a natural disaster. A multitude of critics advocated for the abandonment of Louisiana. Because Louisiana is prone to natural occurrences due to its location, critics believe that it is wholly pointless to rebuild a state that is always sinking. However, the abandonment of Louisiana would result in the movement of all the

When WW2 came around the US needed soldiers and they called on African Americans and over 2.5 million African American registered for the draft. The US didn’t expect slaves to be into fighting. A woman wasn’t allowed to fight in the army back then but they didn’t give up. Black women also came to the defense of the nation by enlisting in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Black women in WAAC were labeled “ten percenters” because they made up 10 percent of the women recruited. In the economic arena, the war ended the Great Depression. Military spending that began in 1940 to bolster the defense effort gave the nation’s economy

New Orleans was originally founded on high ground overlooking the Mississippi River, above sea level. Also surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, New Orleans was susceptible to hurricanes that would come up the coast into the Gulf. Originally New Orleans was naturally protected by “coastal swamps that helped absorb the energy of storm surges before they reached dry land.” (Stillman 228) At this point Americans were more concerned with the floods that happened annually from the Mississippi River. In the early days, settlers built a mile long levee to block overflows from the mighty Mississippi while landowners constructed their own levees.

Erosion is mainly caused by two main natural forces: water and wind. In Southwest Louisiana, erosion by water is one of the main issues we have as a coastal state. There are different factors that must be considered when looking at water erosion

Louisiana is a state consisting of about 4,523,628 people. This number taken prior to Hurricane Katrina that occurred in 2005. As of 2015, the estimated population of Louisiana is 4,670, 724. The area of the state of Louisiana is about 43, 562 square miles. With its neighboring states of Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi, Louisiana is located within the southeast part of the United States. The state’s first geologist was Francis V. Hopkins. Along with his assistant, Colonel Charles H. Lockett, Hopkins published the first topographical and geological maps of Louisiana. Louisiana has a variety of natural resources. Some examples of these natural resources are forests, salt, oil reserves, natural gas, and sulfur.

The Atchafalaya River was created over 1000 years ago. It was formed because of the mighty Mississippi river. It plays a very important role in the everyday lives of the Louisiana people. The conceivable redirection of the Mississippi River and man1s push to oppose it, present one of the best stream designing issues ever experienced. The proof that backings the case that catch of the Mississippi by the Atchafalaya is inevitable, is accessible and plentiful. Information on the decay of the limit of the Mississippi underneath Old River and the expanding limit of the Atchafalaya has been gathered and validated. Geotectonic movement a1 so shows that the inclination toward preoccupation is expanding.

The twentieth state of the United States had quite some history to go through, starting with what is its name, the natives that started and the slave trade that led to the unwanted war of America. Mississippi brought a lot nationalism which brought a lot of social inequality. This essay will lightly cover the background and history that Mississippi holds.

After reading the chapter “Multidimensional Thinking and the Coast,” I was surprised at some of the claims made by Gene Turner. He firmly defends that the dredging of the canals is mainly the reason for the loss of Louisiana’s wetlands. The text states, “Not only do the canals account for the 12 percent of wetland losses resulting directly from digging, but they also account for the other 88 percent of losses.” I’m not quite fully convinced in that theory, I believe that there is more than one thing at play here. Canals have surely opened the doors for saltwater intrusion that destroys the wetlands, but they are just a part of the puzzle. Levee building and the control of the Mississippi River also have huge impact on the deltaic cycle. Another

Student’s name: Lecturer’s name: Course code: Date: Introduction New Orleans is a city in Louisiana situated along the Mississippi River 100. The city is the centre of Louisiana and it is busiest port in the Gulf of Mexico’s since the 1700s.