Week 8 - Global Warming

We recently visited one of the most popular coastal places in the U.S., New Orleans, Louisiana. The multicultural and diverse environment in the town gave us a warm, rich, and enlightening experience. We visited many different restaurants, participated in the cultural parades on the streets, viewed the beautiful houses along the streets, and visited historical and new attractions. The city was not how I imagined it. I assumed that since the whole Hurricane Katrina disaster, the city would have been somewhat abandoned and possessed debris from damaged cars, buildings, and etc throughout the city. After learning so much about the effects of Hurricane Katrina, we could not help but wonder if the city would experience an equal or a worse hurricane disaster in the future. Was the hurricane the result of global warming? Did the locals disturb their surrounding natural environment that would, in turn, caused the rise of the hurricane?  Hurricane activities are naturally caused by intense climate changes due to global warming. Activities include higher wind speed and increased precipitation. As Earth gets warmer, the probability of a storm will likely evolve by intensively raising the body of water above sea level. Since the city sits on a natural basin and below sea level, it was already vulnerable to any future natural disasters. According to the article of Hurricane Katrina, over the course of the 20^th century, engineers have tried to fix the seawalls and levees to keep the city from flooding. However, New Orleans continued to remain a flooding zone for many years (History.com 2019; par.4,5). Humanity may not know how intense hurricanes or other disasters will evolve into, but we do contribute to the activities that increase global warming. Therefore, as long as we continue those activities, we will continue to see intense natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. As the visit came to an end, we all began to recognize how far New Orleans had come. Through many nights of sadness and communitive support, it was refreshing to see the locals happy and proud of their city as they did before the hurricane.

i

2005 satellite image of Hurricane Katrina before hitting New Orleans, Louisiana. Source: NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Source: History.com.

The beginning stage of the rebuilt of New Orleans, Louisiana (placement of solar panels). Source: Mario Tama/Getty/The Atlantic.

Volunteers participating in the rebuilt of New Orleans. Source: Mario Tama/Getty/The Atlantic.

References:

-History.com (2019). Article: Hurricane Katrina. Link: https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/hurricane-katrina

-Taylor, Alan (2015). Article: New Orleans, 10 Years After Katrina. Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/08/new-orleans-10-years-after-katrina/402277/