Coastal Restoration in Louisiana Essay -- Environmental Management

Geologically speaking, lah 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 Louisianas coastline, but the mighty Mississippi River would replenish the land losses. Such is the relationship that forces of nature thrust with one an other(a). 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. Lets look at how Louisiana came to its current demise and what is being done to rectify the situation.Historical DataAs sea level rose and barbarian over Louisiana in previous centuries, the Mississippi River carried large loads of sediment to the Gulf Coast al area from the core of the North American untainted and deposited it on the rim of the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to the twentieth century, 5 million acres of land were compliments of the large influxes of mud from the rivers mammoth basin, extending from element 109 to New York State. Organic matter from highly productive marine waters has been deeply buried under the whole state and far offshore, turning into petroleum. During other dry periods, large beds of salt were laid down through evaporation. Human engineering has temporarily tamed the river, most of the time, pr tear downting it from dumping its valuable land building sediment all over the place. As a result, coastal Louisiana is sinking out of sight, starved of fresh material. The Mississippi Delta was... ... University of New Orleans. Thats not even possible. The goal is to restore healthy natural processes, then live with what you get. (Bourne) Sounds like a good attitude to this happy Cajun.Works CitedAlden, Andrew. About.com Guide. 4 December 2010 .Bourne, Joel K. discipline Geographic Society -Environment-The Big Uneasy. 4 December 2010 .State of LA, Gov. Bobby Jindal. Coastal Protection and Restoration. 4 December 2010 .Tibbetts, John. Environmental Health Perspectives. January 2006. Louisiana-A lesson in Nature range Vol. 114, Number 1. 4 December 2010 .