RE: “Poll: Most Louisianians see climate change as serious problem” And Louisiana’s best science agrees with them. The 2012 Master Plan is head-and-shoulders the best science and engineering effort to keep Louisiana afloat, and perhaps one of the more honest climate adaption strategies around the world. And that plan outlines what is at stake: from One to Two Thousand Square Miles of Louisiana, should our government continue to stall on climate action. There is a difference between a future land loss of 770 sq miles if we act to limit carbon (“moderate” scenario) compared to 1750 sq miles lost if we continue with stalling and half-actions (“less optimistic” scenario). The Master Plan does not dare to outline the worst case sea level scenario (“High” or NRC III, pg 86) should no action be taken on climate, but I think we can assume that it is on the order of losing whatever is left –the “Sliver on the River” maps published by Blum and Roberts, that show New Orleans as a ringed island, engulfed in water as Ft Proctor is surrounded by Lake Borgne today . A destabilized climate makes a lot of predictions uncertain, but what is certain about Louisiana’s future is how much there is to lose to inaction–at least One Thousand square miles of Louisiana, One Thousand square miles of Paradise. Scott Eustis is GRN’s Coastal Wetland Specialist
