Louisiana’s shrinking coast offers a narrowing window for managed retreat
Yale UniversityPeer-Reviewed Publication
Louisiana’s coast is disappearing, and its population has already started to retreat. The shoreline, the most exposed in the world, is projected to move more than 30 miles inland of New Orleans. By 2070, it will lose about 75% of its remaining wetlands. Eventually, all of coastal Louisiana will become uninhabitable, research has showed. The state has a narrowing window to plan for managed relocation that could be a model for other areas facing climate challenges, according to a new study coauthored by Yale’s Brianna Castro.
“Louisiana is a canary in the coal mine. It is one of the rare places where we’re already clearly seeing climate-motivated depopulation combined with other social and economic factors,” said Castro, an assistant professor of urban sustainability at Yale School of the Environment.
For the study, published May 4 in the journal Nature Sustainability, Castro worked with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Tulane University, Florida State University, and Coastal Carolina University. The team noted that the current population retreat in Louisiana offers a “first mover advantage,” which provides opportunities to learn what policies and plans are effective in advancing social welfare and environmental quality during relocation.
- Journal
- Nature Sustainability