This is the Barataria Basin, built of soil washed to this area by the Mississippi River. This soil is still compacting and sinking, a process called subsidence. Most of the Barataria Preserve is less than two feet above sea level, and its subsidence rate is nearly half an inch a year. Meanwhile, glaciers and polar ice sheets are melting and our warming climate is heating oceans everywhere, making their waters expand just like water does when you heat it on a stove. Everywhere on the planet, the oceans are a little higher every day. The combination of the Barataria Basin's sinking land and global sea level rise means that the ocean is creeping in faster here than almost anywhere else in North America. · Floods are becoming more frequent and lasting longer · Coastal wetlands are disappearing as land sink and water rises · Less land is available to buffer Gulf of Mexico storms · Storm and flooding threats to homes, communities, and infrastructure like highways,ports, and energy facilities are increasing · Salt water from the Gulf is moving into freshwater wetlands, killing plants that holdthe land together · Death of plants, animals, and microbes that cannot tolerate increased flooding or saltwater
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