The threat of sea level rise is familiar in New Orleans, but relocation raises difficult questions about the city’s future. While adapting to rising seas has been a costly and decades-long effort, a new paper suggests these measures may not be enough.
A perspectives paper published by Tulane University researchers this summer warned that sea level rise may eventually overwhelm New Orleans and urged Louisiana to begin planning to relocate its coastal communities. After publication, a slew of backlash about relocating the city followed.
The paper’s claims rest primarily on the chance discovery of an ancient shoreline 10 to 20 feet above current sea level. Researchers found the shoreline near Lake Pontchartrain, which is north of New Orleans. It formed 125,000 years ago, when global temperatures were 0.5 to 1.5 °C higher than pre-industrial values, according to the perspectives paper…