The Effects of Rising Sea Levels on the United States Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

1. Introduction

As it stands today the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico is losing more and more land; the amount of land lost each year may seem relatively small to the average person, but to scientists who understand the unprecedented rate at which this is happening, there is reason to be alarmed. On the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico there are more reasons for the rising sea level than simply global warming and melting ice sheets or ice caps. In the Mississippi delta, for example, the oil industry is taking so much fluid (oil) out of the ground that the land is sinking and compacting further. There is also a decrease in the amount of sediment reaching the delta due to many man-made structures, such as levees, drudging, dikes, and others. With the oil withdrawal, decreased sediment discharge, isostatic loading, and sediment compaction Louisiana is sinking further into the Gulf of Mexico. These factors combined with more freshwater entering the World’s oceans from melting ice sheets and ice caps and one has sea-level inundating the U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate.

Rising sea-level not only affects humans and their land usage, but various animals and their habitats are affected, as well. Wetlands are being destroyed and marshes, which are among the most productive of environments, are dying off because they do not have the sediment to nourish and anchor them. For marsh and wetlands to sustain themselves, it is imperative for the sediment deposition rate to equal that of the sea-level rise and this is currently not the case in the Mississippi delta. Wetlands and marshes are not the only affected habitats; coastal forests are being affected, as well. Coastal forests in areas all over the U.S. coast of...

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