After You See These Images From Space, You'll Realize That The U.S. Map Is *Incorrect*

Turns out levees keep floods away and oil companies keep the money a'flowin', but they both also make Louisiana kinda ... go away? It's basically normal to see DOZENS of towns (and probably all sorts of charming old stuff, all of which I am a sucker for) DISAPPEAR in 70 years ... which is basically in the lifespan of a grandma ... ?!

Exactly.

Yeah, this is a bit of a downer. BUT! If you know the causes, there's hope to reverse it. Yeah, we're verrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy close to too late, but as you can see in the eighth GIF, with the right plans, energy, and infrastructure policies, we can fix it.

The first step is getting wise. The next step is gonna be harder, but it's a start.

So here's what the boot looks like:

Now let's look at the details ... IN GIFS!

The *basic* story of all these GIFs is this: Human infrastructure is causing environmental problems. Levees done messed it all up by blocking bayous that feed the delta sediment, and then oil companies' shipping channels and drilling finished the job.

Let's look at what's happening in the areas most affected in the Mississippi Delta, on the tippy-toe of the boot.

1. Delacroix:

2. Leeville:

This place was apparently a magical farm paradise, and now its water.

3. Manila Village:

4. New Orleans East Land Bridge:

...as it protects people from hurricanes less and less.

5. Texaco Canals:

Look at all that green in the beginning... :(

6. Venice and West Bay:

I feel like reiterating ... in 1932 this looked like:

All those little red towns are just plain GONE.

Now I look like:

7. Buras:

-_-

8. Atchafalaya River Delta , aka the good news! Restoration plans are working. "Together, the two deltas have produced 18 square miles of new land in 40 years — and 270 acres more each year."

1922:

2014:

The FUTURE:

And here are some brief visuals that might shed some light on the infrastructural causes* contributing to coastline loss:

These GIFs are from the interactive maps over at ProPublica's Louisiana project, which you could literally spend hours on. There's audio, maps and pictures, and INFO! Thanks to Franchesca, who *made* these GIFs for me.

I first had this whole "aha" moment seeing how the boot is disappearing when I read this article on Medium, "Louisiana Loses Its Boot" by Brett Anderson and the folks at ReadMatter. Thumbnail image used with permission from Brett Anderson.

*Just to note, by citing that badly planned infrastructure is contributing to coastal disappearance, I'm not implying that climate change and sea level rise are NOT happening too. It's a fact accepted by many of the folks who no longer live in their hometowns on the Mississippi Delta. Sea level rise is A Thing. Here's some science to back me up!

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