Global climate outlook bleak for La. :
Stronger storms,
flooding among
potential impacts
Bob Moser’
bmoser@theadvertiser.com
Humans’ use of coal, oil
and natural gas is far and
away the leading cause of
global warming, according to
an international report set to
be released today.
‘The report is significant
for Louisiana. Some of the
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world’s most respected scien-
tists project more heat
records, violent hurricanes
and a rise in sea levels that
would flood parts of southern
Louisiana by 2100.
Lafayette is 25 feet to 30 feet
‘S00 OUTLOOK on Page 4A
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fad mas polariesA recent tidy pubes inthe jour Science concludes that
‘oot ie lkoly nationwide by 2700, Unless steps are taken to stabilize ciate
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Outlook
above sea level and would be
safe from a slow rise caused by
melting glacial caps, said UL
geology professor Brian Lock.
However, a 2006 study in the
professional journal Science
concluded a 3-foot rise was
likely nationwide within the
century. It would cover much
of southern Louisiana, and
‘New Orleans.
If you take into account
the compaction of soil, sinking
of the land's surface and loss of
marsh area in Louisiana, it
makes this very plausibie,
Lock said. Levees have stopped
the natural flooding and build-
ing process where silt and
loose soil collect on the coast,
he said. These impacts only
se the flooding potential
‘The report, by the
nmental Panel on
ange, is the work of
more than 2,000 scientists,
‘whose 1,600 pages of research
were reviewed by many gov
ernments, industry and envi
ronmental groups. This is the
first of three parts to be
released between now and May.
Scientists have used rising
sea level projections to help
form the master plan for
Louisiana’s Coastal Protection
and Restoration Authority, said
Sidney Coffee, senior adviser
to Gov. Kathleen Blanco on
coastal issues.
Hurricane Katrina slowed
from a Category 5 storm to a
Category 3 as it neared
Louisiana’s coast, but it brought
a Category 5 storm surge that
didn’t subside, Coffee said. More
Category 5 storms would be like
yas global temperatures rise.
‘The storms are more likely
to devastate southern
Louisiana as the coast recedes
each year: Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita destroyed 217 square
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miles of coastline, but Coffee
said 24 square miles are lost
each year to logging and other
human causes,
The state's_master plan
should be finished soon and
will be presented to the legisla.
ture in April, Coffee said. It
would be a $50 billion project
spread over decades and would
include better levees, home ele:
vation standards and plans to
divert fresh water and sediment
from the Mississippi River to
build up Louisiana marshes,
The oil and gas industry
that drives Louisiana's econo:
my may be part of the problem,
but an alternative fuel that can
fulfill the demand hasn't been
found yet, said Don Briggs,
president of the Louisiana Oil
& Gas Association. He'd like to
see lower emission standards
for the cars we drive.
“The report is not saying
anything anyone doesn’t
already know," he said. “No
one in our industry denies it,
but it's not going to change
overnight. It's a world prob.
lem, Tightening emission stan-
dards can be done, but every
other country has to do it, too.
Lock is hesitant to agree on
one side or the other of the
global warming debate. He
teaches his students that
humans add a net 3 gigatons of
carbon dioxide to the atmos:
phere yearly. It’s small, com:
pared to the total 750 gigatons
in the air, and about 90 giga-
tons fluctuating between the
atmosphere and ocean surface.
But if doubt remains, Lock
said, “We might as well reduce
our consumption (of fuel),
anyway”
Gannett News Service
contributed to this report.