People might not like to talk about climate change, but it’s real, it’s here and communities need to start planning for it—especially in south Louisiana, which is not only suffering the effects of hotter temperatures, as is much of the globe, but is also sinking into the Gulf of Mexico.
Such was the advice of a panel of experts at the Center for Planning Excellence annual Smart Growth Summit on “adapting in the age of climate change.”
“Why should we be talking about climate change? Because we’re part of the problem,” said panelist Calvin Gladney, president and CEO of Smart Growth America. “Land-use decisions, suburban sprawl, leads to people driving more, which leads to more vehicle miles traveled and more greenhouse gas emissions, which causes climate change.”
Louisiana’s underserved population—which ranks as the nation’s most impoverished in the nation—is particularly vulnerable to these effects and is the least able to do anything about it.
“In Louisiana, nearly four percent of people are especially vulnerable to extreme heat,” Gladney said. “So there is a correlation between heat and health outcomes. Increased heat leads to changes in ozone, which leads to air pollution, which leads to increased stress, high blood pressure. So there is an intersection of climate change and health.”
Even in a best-case scenario, which would assume a strict curb on carbon emissions, global sea level is expected to rise 1-2 feet by 2100, according to a 2019 report, said Tulane University’s Vokes Geology Professor Torbjorn Tornqvist.
“And we’re not at a best-case scenario right now,” Tornqvist said, adding that as many as 1.5 million Louisianians will be forced to relocate to other parts of the state and the U.S. over the next 80 years.
Though there’s still time to mitigate the damage, in many respects, it’s already too late, the experts said.
Said Tornqvist: “In Louisiana, we are past the tipping point.”
