Transcript Climate Change Impacts on the State of Louisiana

Climate Change Impacts
on the State of Louisiana
by Nadiriye Haciogullari
• The global climate is changing due
to the build-up of heat-trapping
gases in the atmosphere.
• Unless this build-up is slowed, the
climate of the Gulf Coast region
could be noticeably altered.
Research Questions
• How is the climate already
changing?
• Why is it changing?
• How are humans contributing to
the problem?
• What are potential impacts from
climate change?
“An increasing body of
observations gives a collective
picture of a warming world and
other changes in the climate
system.”
IPCC 2001
Historical Temperature Changes in the Gulf
Coast Region
Literature Review
• Books and articles
– Global Climate Change and Its
Consequences on the Gulf Coast
Region of the United States (2000) by
Abdollahi and Ning
– Integrated Assessment of the Climate
Change Impacts on the Gulf Coast
Region (2003) Ning,Turner,Doyle and
Abdollahi
The Climate of Louisiana
• Louisiana’s climate has always been
variable
• Louisiana has a warm and humid
climate
• Rainfall is brought by extra tropical
storms in the winter & thunderstorms
and tropical storms in the summer and
fall.
Climate Change Risks
• Human Health,
• Coastal Areas
• Agriculture & Forestry,
• Water Resources,
• Fisheries
• Wetlands
Human Health
• Climate change having the
greatest direct human health
• Top 15 most notable weather
disasters in the US, nine occurred
in Gulf Coast states.
Coastal Areas
• Climate change will likely
exacerbate coastal areas
vulnerability.
• Climate change will increase the
rate of erosion.
Water Resources
• Any changes in climate, such as rainfall,
evaporation, groundwater recharge
rates, and/or runoff patterns, will affect
ecosystems and all freshwater users.
• Higher water temperatures will alter
aquatic ecosystems by changing aquatic
food webs and species communities
Agriculture and Forestry
• Agriculture and forestry are both
enormously important industries in
Louisiana
• “With changes in climate, the extent
and density of forested areas in
Louisiana could change little or decline
by 5-15%.”
Ning & Abdollahi
Global Climate Change
Fisheries
• Louisiana enjoys a lucrative fishing
and seafood industry.
• As sea level continues to rise, the
yield of estuarine-dependent
fisheries, such as shrimp, will
increase or decrease depending on
the size and quality of the new
habitat over time
Wetlands
• Louisiana’s wetlands are already
being lost at the alarming.
• Wetlands help retain and purify
water, stabilize sediments, and
protect coastal areas from storm
surges.
Conclusions
• It is possible to assess Louisiana’s
vulnerability to a rapidly changing
climate, even though extracting
state-specific information from
global climate model projections
entails significant uncertainty.
Definitely, Louisiana can play a
significant role in slowing down
climate change.