A portion of Southeast Louisiana, roughly the size of Delaware, has been lost to the Gulf of Mexico, making every modern map of the famous boot-shaped outline a lie.  The United States may soon have to say good-bye to one of its top energy and seafood producers, Louisiana, a state that suffers from the hazardous effects of climate change. Louisiana’s fertile wetlands protect the southern region of the state against tropical storms and hurricanes. However, Louisiana’s coastal barriers are continuously eroding and sinking away. As sea levels encroach upon the more vulnerable, low-lying areas of Louisiana, land sediments continue to compact and sink one inch every three years. Even Jerome Zerinque, executive assistant to former Governor Bobby Jindal, acknowledges the deceptive boot-shaped outline representing Louisiana on the map: “people get a false sense of security, they see these topographic maps, they see these solid platforms of marsh that aren’t there… it’s a false reality.”  Yet, Zerinque and other political leaders decline to advocate for a map change that would reveal the indisputable truth behind Louisiana’s deformity. Harold Schoeffler , a Lafayette-based environmentalist, grew up frogging, fishing, and hunting on “every inch of marsh that’s out there… and of course, a lot of it isn’t there now.” Schoeffler enjoys giving people a view of what their eyes cannot see due to land loss. He points out pieces of wood, which appear to be fragments of an old pier jutting out of the water, and he explains that the wood served as a cattle pen twenty-five years ago. Schoeffler admits his fondest memories took place on land that should no longer be shown on the map, for the sinking marsh on which he stands is nothing but shallow water to anyone else. Without his activism and oral history of land loss, many people will ignore the disappearing marshes that house shrimp, one of Louisiana’s favorite shellfish, until it is too late. Because of increasing greenhouse gas emissions and disturbing weather patterns, climate change does and will continue to have a drastic impact on Louisiana’s vulnerable wetlands, economy, and coastal infrastructure.
         

The massive amount of greenhouse gases the modern world emits results in higher temperatures and rising sea levels and therefore threatens the low-lying coast of Louisiana with health risks and land loss. With the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global temperatures are projected to increase by four to eight degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. Warmer waters lead to the spread of some bacteria like Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a common bacterium found in brackish saltwater, which causes human infections when ingested. With that being said, “as temperatures increase, the frequency of other climate-sensitive disease outbreaks are also expected to increase” (“Climate Impacts in the Southeast”). Not only do warmer waters threaten human health, but they also impact Louisiana’s seafood industry. Fishermen believe warmer waters affect the growth of fish and alter migration patterns, making a fishermen’s job more difficult. On the other hand, greenhouse gas emissions contribute to rising sea levels, and “studies project global sea level to rise by another 1 to 4 feet by 2100” (“Future of Climate Change”). When sea levels rise, shorelines erode, the ground begins to sink, and wetlands disappear. Because satellite images of New Orleans’s swamp and marsh areas do not demonstrate the distinction between grassy marshes and terra firma (firm land), people do not notice the slow vanishing of Louisiana’s wetlands. I personally experienced an awakening to the disappearing marshes and islands surrounding Breton Sound. While in route from Shell Beach to Breton Sound, I noticed the GPS satellite map illustrating land; however, I see nothing but water. In fact, what used to be an island is now my dad’s favorite fishing spot. The reality of climate change appears in Figure 1, a map of Louisiana’s habitable land:

Figure 1: Louisiana’s land mass (2011). Source: Andrea Galinkski, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

This map, vastly different from what is shown as Louisiana on any map of the United States, shows not only vast erosion of the Louisiana Coast, but also the failure of anyone to truly recognize this land loss. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions increase temperatures and raise sea levels, both factors that affect Louisiana’s coastal areas with health risks and wetland loss overtime.
       

Scientific data also proves that climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events; for Louisiana, this means more frequent and severe hurricanes and storm surges that will impact Louisiana’s sensitive coastal wetlands. These wetlands, vulnerable to hurricanes from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, could potentially suffer from serious damage, as they did in 2005: Hurricane Katrina destroyed personal properties, infrastructure, and eroded more than two-hundred square miles of Louisiana’s coastal land. The Environmental Protection Agency projects that the “intensity of Atlantic hurricanes is likely to increase as the ocean warms,” and as intensity increases, so does the damage done to the coastal infrastructure (“Future of Climate Change”). Vulnerable to sea level rise and flood risks, the low-lying coastal areas of Louisiana suffer from the increased frequency of precipitation. When seawater intrudes on the already overloaded drainage systems, pumps breakdown, drainage occurs much slower, and the supply of safe drinking water becomes limited. Therefore, extreme weather conditions not only increase flood risks and affect freshwater availability, but they also harm the people, crops, and aquatic plants and animals that call Louisiana home.

While many Americans argue climate change is a hoax, modern science proves that fossil fuel combustion increases carbon dioxide levels, which cause a rise in temperature. Even President Donald Trump shows his disbelief in climate change through his executive orders that remove climate change regulations. As a successful businessman, President Trump also shows his opinion on climate change through his tweets: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive” (@realDonaldTrump). The apparent motive for these comments against climate change appears to be based on economics rather than science. Climate change regulations do impact profitability of certain industries; however, defeating or slowing climate change requires regulations. In 1977, the United States National Academy of Sciences reported that human activities directly cause the rise in global temperature. Unfortunately, many productive industries and innovative technologies cannot avoid increased greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, earth’s average surface temperatures have set a new record for the last three years, as Karen Northon from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration affirms: “Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880” (“NASA, NOAA Data”). While the non-believers in climate change believe that alternative behaviors to alleviate climate change’s effects would hurt the economy, both the damage to Louisiana’s coastal infrastructure and the loss of Louisiana’s wetlands will have an even larger impact on the economy: Louisiana’s ports, located near or below sea level, account for about twenty-percent of the country’s maritime commerce. Although the arguments against the existence of climate change seem valid for economy’s sake, Louisiana’s loss of wetlands serves as visual evidence that climate change does exist. In the long run, climate change will hurt the economy more than avoiding its existence will.
       

Louisiana is an obvious victim of climate change in the United States, as the greenhouse gas emissions and severe weather conditions negatively affect its climate and people; Climate change also contributes to the vast loss of land and valuable resources on a daily basis. While adapting to climate change and its effects may have a negative impact on business profits, scientific data supports that such regulations are necessary to slow, alter, and possibly reverse the further erosion of Louisiana’s valuable coastline. Climate change, due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, causes higher atmospheric temperatures, and it increases the frequency and severity of weather conditions; therefore, climate change drastically impacts Louisiana’s vulnerable wetlands, economy and coastal infrastructure.
                                       

Works Cited
“Background of the issue – Climate Change Debate – ProCon.” The Leading Source for  Pros and Cons on Controversial Issues. N.p., 28 Jun. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.
"Climate Impacts in the Southeast." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Dec. 2016.  Web.  09 Apr. 2017.
"Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 06 Oct. 2016.  Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
"Future of Climate Change." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 27 Dec. 2016. Web. 09  Apr. 2017.
Galinkski, Andrea. “Louisiana Loses Its Boot – Matter – Medium.” Medium. Matter, 08 Sept.  2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.
Northon, Karen. "NASA, NOAA Data Show 2016 Warmest Year on Record Globally." NASA.  NASA, 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
@realDonaldTrump. “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in  order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” Twitter, 6 Nov. 2012, 2:15 p.m.,