september 9, 2015 grab a paper from the shelf and use your notes and the map below to complete
TRANSCRIPT
September 9, 2015
Grab a paper from the shelf and use your notes and the map below to
complete.
SECTION 5: People and the Environment
1. CAUSE: Great Flood of 1927
Effects: 1. drove millions of people from their homes 2. led to the protective system that keeps the
river within manmade banks until it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.
2. Who is responsible for controlling the river?
Army Corps of Engineers
WHEN WHY WHAT HOW
1935
To protect New
Orleans from
flooding
Concrete
structure nearly
8,000 ft long
an electric
crane
opens or
closes its
350 bays.
4. Bonnet Carre Spillway
WHEN WHY
1963
to prevent the Mississippi from changing course and heading to the Gulf of Mexico through the Atchafalaya
5. Old River Control Structure
6. What is happening as a result of the structures built to protect the people and property?
La’s wetlands are being affected disastrously
7. Louisiana has 30 % of the U.S. Coastline but experiences 90 % of the country’s land loss.
8. Naturally, the marsh depends on rivers and water runoff to add freshwater and silt.
9. What is subsidence?The slow sinking of the coast
CAUSE EFFECT
Flood Control Structures
Land is shifting and sinking
Removal of groundwater and oil and gas
drought
Oil is needed
Salt water enters freshwater
the amount of silt that reaches the marsh has
been reduced.
Underground faults
Speeded up the subsidence problem
Brown marsh – vegetation dies
Canals are dug to get to oil (soil and vegetation removed)
Kills vegetation
12. List 4 impacts of this land loss when it comes to “resources”.
- roads to ports going underwater- pipelines may be getting damaged w/o wetlands- fish not being able to spawn- oil spills
11. What role does technology play in land loss? (pg 67)has also made it impossible to ignore the disappearing land
13. What important piece of land have coastal changes affected greatly? What is the importance of this land?
Barrier islands; they help protect the wetlands from waves
14. How is the Army Corps looking for ways to help with this matter?•Manmade, controlled crevasses •Dredging will help direct the river water *Terraces may be built to protect the marsh *Vegetation is being planted in the marsh and on the barrier islands.
15. Name 2 “mistakes” made by people that are affecting our environment.- water hyacinth – spread in turn depriving fish of oxygen- nutria – eat vegetation intended to protect the freshwater marsh
