Louisiana Businesses Scramble as State Loses Manhattan-Size Chunks of Land Yearly to Climate Change

Now, shifting climate conditions mean tropical storms and hurricanes may become stronger and more frequent, worsening risks in Louisiana, according to research from the Rand Corp.  A 2012 coastal management plan connected to that research projects that flooding damage along Louisiana's coast could cost $2.4bn annually, while flooding damage throughout the state could total $23.4bn each year.

Climate change is imposing severe economic threats to the navigation, energy and chemical companies that line the Mississippi River's feeder canals, said Val Marmillion, managing director of America's Wetland Foundation, a Louisiana-based nonprofit.  He added that these threats become increasingly fiscally "catastrophic" closer to Louisiana’s coast.  The number of extreme US weather events that cost $1bn or more grew from one per year in the 1980s, to two per year in the 1990s and five per year between 2000 and 2010, and it has been rising ever since, said Entergy Chief Administrative Officer Rod West.

The number of extreme US weather events that cost $1bn or more grew from one per year in the 1980s, to two per year in the 1990s and five per year between 2000 and 2010, and it has been rising ever since, said Entergy Chief Administrative Officer Rod West.

Louisiana Businesses Scramble as State Loses Manhattan-Size Chunks of Land Yearly to Climate Change