Study Warns New Orleans Could Be Surrounded by Water This Century
Scientists say 75% of remaining wetlands could vanish and the shoreline could retreat 62 miles, forcing an early, managed retreat.
- A new expert analysis warns New Orleans could be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before century's end, with coastal Louisiana facing sea level rise of around 10 to 23 feet and around 75% of remaining wetlands set to be lost.
- Louisiana's disappearing wetlands—around 2,000 square miles lost since the 1930s—have left New Orleans uniquely vulnerable, built in a bowl-shaped basin below sea level and ringed by shrinking buffers against storms.
- Geology professor Torbjörn Törnqvist points to a 125,000-year-old shoreline roughly 30 miles north of New Orleans as evidence sea levels will likely rise to dangerous heights. Approximately 99% of residents face high flood risk, according to study author Wanyun Shao of the University of Alabama.
- New Orleans has already lost around 25% of its population since Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 1,400 people in 2005, with continued departures spiking after major storms. Eroding tax bases, worsening services, and skyrocketing insurance premiums will entrench existing inequalities, Törnqvist warned.
- Governor Jeff Landry cancelled a sediment diversion project in 2025 that was meant to boost wetlands, effectively surrendering extensive portions of coastal Louisiana according to report authors. Rising seas threaten coastal cities worldwide, from New York and London to Bangkok and Shanghai, said Benjamin Strauss, CEO and chief scientist at Climate Central.
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The sea around the American city of New Orleans is rising to such dangerous levels that scientists are calling for plans to evacuate residents.
KEZI 9 News
New Orleans faces a future of flooding that could leave it surrounded by the ocean, according to a new analysis by experts who also say the city must begin the relocation process now to avoid chaos.
Rising seas will swallow New Orleans. People need to start relocating now, scientists say
New Orleans is locked into a watery future which could see it surrounded by ocean as early as this century, according to a new analysis, which says the city must start planning how to relocate residents now to avoid chaos.
Rising sea levels will swallow New Orleans, scientists say
New Orleans is locked into a watery future which could see it surrounded by ocean as early as this century, according to a new expert analysis, which says the city must start the relocation process now to avoid chaos.
For New Orleans, a city of about 360,000 people, water is becoming an increasing threat. The city could be surrounded by ocean this century, according to a new analysis by...
New Orleans is doomed to an underwater future, which could lead to the city being surrounded by sea as early as this century, according to a new expert analysis. Authors
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