Overview
- A peer-reviewed Nature Sustainability paper projects the Louisiana shoreline will shift more than 30 miles inland and that about 75% of remaining wetlands will vanish by 2070.
- The authors say levees, floodgates, and pumps will not preserve the city over time as it risks becoming surrounded by open water.
- The study urges Louisiana to begin a managed relocation now, framing a multigenerational move that could offer a first-mover model for other coasts.
- A separate mapping analysis cited in reports finds that 99% of New Orleans residents face major flood risk, underscoring the scale of exposure.
- Population losses since Hurricane Katrina show the shift has started, with about a quarter of Orleans Parish residents and more than half from rural Cameron Parish leaving.