Research Paper On Louisiana Wetlands

As decades continued to pass by the wetlands change. "People have begun to realize that wetlands are valuable and productive ecosystems that fulfill an essential function for both humans and wildlife. Due to their unique characteristics, wetlands can support a wide diversity of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They also control floodwaters and protect us from storms and hurricanes. Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning and storing water. Lastly, many people rely on wetlands for their livelihood, as they are important centers for hunting, fishing and recreation." Referring to this from "Wetlands and Habitat Loss", we now see how wetlands are valuable and helpful to the ecosystem. The wetlands are known for our water source. Many people depend on the Everglades for a water source. We also use the Everglades for activities. These activities include fishing, recreation, and

Giving full credit to restricting the Mississippi River as the culprit for loss of wetlands is not accurate. The booming oil and gas exploration of the 1970’s and 1980’s merits a name on the marquee as well. The pipelines and canals used to transport the resources to the outside world placed a great deal of stress on the fragile wetlands. Erosion from the barges in and out of the marshes as well as the salt water allowed into the fresh water, providing a precarious habitat for fresh water species – flora and fauna alike. Plants provide root systems to hold soil in place. Fish and fowl provide an economy for the area. Enter

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).

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

In Bolivar County, Mississippi, stands Mound Bayou, one of the first black towns in the U.S. It is located twenty-eight miles southwest of Clarksdale, Mississippi. It was founded by Isaiah T. Montgomery and his cousin Benjamin T. Green. Both Montgomery and Green were former slaves. They both were formerly owned by Joseph Emory Davis, a lawyer turned successful planter & the older brother/mentor to Jefferson Davis, the former President of Confederacy. The town is a national significance because it represented many towns established by African American who moved from the South to the North after slavery.

As a gateway community to Texas Hill Country and Lake Travis, Lake Pointe is in an ideal location. Just 12 miles west of all the employers, entertainment, and cultural opportunities of downtown Austin, Lake Pointe is a carefully planned community that has just been built in the past 10 years or so. Developed near Highway 71 and Bee Cave Road, Lake Pointe is able to boast a great location as well as homes that are both more spacious and more affordable than many of the properties available within the city boundaries. Lake Pointe has always been popular with families who want plenty of space and clean, safe living while also enjoying all the amenities of Austin. Families also adore the fact that Lake Pointe is part of the prestigious Lake Travis School District.

“During the early 1900’s the discovery of oil and natural gas in areas around Baton Rouge attracted chemical companies to the city” (Reilly). Since the beginning of the 1900’s Louisiana has been a large refining state, one may say one of the best, but also one of the most damaging. It can be safely said that since the start of refining in Louisiana well over a billion pounds of pollution has been released. In 2011 alone over a million pounds of chemicals were released into the air and a separate 1.3 million had been released into the water. All of Louisiana’s 17 refineries reported accidents contributing to these chemical spills (Sturgis). The numbers that have been presented so far may not seem out of the ordinary

The great flood of the Mississippi river in 1927 prompted the severing of class divisions and the extension of racial oppression. The flood caused over $350 million in property damage, 246 flood-related deaths, and a home loss of 130,00. Many african americans fled north to escape the racial oppression that resulted from the disastrous flood. Police held black african americans at gun point until they agreed to help raise the levees to protect buildings and houses from rising flood waters. After African americans started refusing to work, one got shot in the back and all the african americans fled north to escape the hardships that were brought about when the river flooded. After Hoover won presidency, he did not keep his promises to ensure

    Schleifstein begins by going straight into how much land Louisiana is losing. He states that the coastline is “losing wetlands at a rate of 16.57 square miles a year during the past 25 years”, which is about a football field every hour (Schleifstein 1). Most of the wetlands that were lost were results of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Gustav and Ike in 2008. A study found that “a post-Katrina and Rita estimate of 217 square miles of wetlands” but there were

This excerpt of Swamplandia, a novel by Karen Russell focuses on Hilola Bigtree, a performer who races alligators as she is watched by an audience and her family. It is in the point of view of the performer’s daughter, who has seen her mother perform before and is newly captivated each time. Since it is in her point of view, she is able to create an atmosphere where she can elevate her mother as an exquisite being. She has an admiration for her mother, both as a performer and in general, that is extremely clear. The tense narrative in the excerpt contributes to Hilola’s portrayal as indestructible. Russell portrays the narrator’s exaltation of her mother through the combination of generated and real tension by use of dark imagery and the contrast between her and the audience through sublime diction.

Until now, when the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010 and dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into Louisiana salt marshes, scientists had no idea which kinds of animals were most affected and what impact it had on the food chain. However, with a new study from a Coastal Waters Consortium team of researchers led by Rutgers University postdoctoral researcher, Michael McCann, has found out what animals and insects affected by the Deepwater Horizon explosion that should be given the top priority for conservation, protection and research. The researchers found that terns, gulls and wading birds were both sensitive to the oil and so deeply connected to other animals in the food chain as predator and prey that losing them would impact

Hurricane Katrina was considered as one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded in the history of the United States. It was the sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane ever and the third strongest on record that had reached the United States. According to Brinkley (2006), “Katrina was the eleventh tropical storm, fifth hurricane, third major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.” The hurricane occurred on August 29th, 2005, and had a massive physical impact on the land and to the residents of New Orleans City (Galea & Brewin, 2007). Before the hurricane, there was massive destruction of the wetlands beside construction of canals and these increased the erosion rates in the lands. After the floods, much of the city’s water was contaminated leading to the loss of the aquatic lives and indigenous plants.

On April 10, 2011, an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. This explosion killed 11 crewmembers and caused the rig to sink to the bottom of the ocean. This caused an estimated 180-185 million gallons of oil to flow into the gulf. It wasn’t until July 15, 2010 until the oil was contained and stopped flowing. The Gulf was virtually covered in crude oil. There were many effects from this spill and many of them were environmental. Animals had to swim through this oil and birds that landed in it were no longer able to fly because of the heavy oil on their wings. At least a thousand birds died and hundreds of other animal also perished. The oil washed up onto beaches and caused them to close to the public. Some of the effects were even

The British Petroleum oil spill damaged the shorelines of four Gulf states. Worse yet, it took three months to build the relief well to stop the flow. It immediately threatened more than sixty five thousand acres in four National Wildlife Refuges, home to endangered species. Approximately forty percent of the coastal wetlands of the lower forty eight states is located in Louisiana, and it's worth ninety six billion. British Petroleum spent six billion to hire four thousand people to clean up the spill that year. This contributed more than the seven hundred million lost in fishing and tourism revenues and the three thousand jobs lost to the six-month deep-water drilling moratorium

Many have described the post-spill Gulf as a gigantic chemical experiment, with as yet unknown effect on its delicate ecosystem. By July 2010, one third of the Gulf’s fishing area—more than 80,000 square miles—had been closed, affecting the livelihood of thousands in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi.