Written September 2002

The Natural Buffer Disappears

And there's another reason why scientists worry more about hurricanes every single year. There's always been a huge natural buffer that helps protect New Orleans from storms. There are miles of wetlands between here and the Gulf of Mexico: they slow hurricanes down as they blow in from the sea. But that buffer is disappearing. Every year, a chunk of wetlands the size of Manhattan crumbles and turns into open water.

Joe Suhayda explains, "So the hurricane can move closer to the city before it starts to decrease. So in effect, the city is moving closer to the Gulf as each year goes by."

And he says, it's partly because of those levees along the Mississippi River. When they stopped the river from flooding, they also prevented the wetlands from getting the regular doses of floodwater and mud that they need to survive. Studies show that if the wetlands keep vanishing over the next few decades, then you won't need a giant storm to devastate New Orleans — a much weaker, more common kind of hurricane could destroy the city too.

// End Quote

So the Levees helped in more ways than one with this disaster? Perhapes the Enviromentalists had this one right... Maybe they were right to protest everytime people were trying to get funds for the levee's...

Something to chew on... Maybe if we weren't trying to control mother nature, some people would have been spared.


-=>Topper<=-
--
In 1896 50% of all registered cars were wrecked in ONE day, There were no truck accidents reported anywhere.
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