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The coastal realm's environmental debt

The coastal realm's environmental debt The coastal realm’s environmental debt G. CARLETON RAY* Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA Hurricane Katrina sent a powerful message when it devastated the US Gulf Coast in September 2005. This ‘perfect storm’ resulted in massive environmental destruction that will take billions of dollars and decades of time to repair, and is a stunning example of how human activities can make natural disasters infinitely worse. In short, the Gulf Coast is now faced with an environmental debt (‘environmental deficit’ sensu Bormann, 1990) that brings questions to mind about whether the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular can, or should, be restored to their former states. It is not that warnings have been absent. More than three decades ago, a far-sighted, landmark report foretold ‘critical problems of the coastal zone’ (Ketchum, 1972). More recently, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS, 1995) reviewed the major impacts of human activities on coastal and marine environments. Alterations of physical habitats – levees along the Mississippi River, channels in the Delta – stand out, especially with respect to the extent of these effects on hydrology, sedimentation, coastal eutrophication, and flooding. Equally important are other environmental impacts urgently http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Wiley

The coastal realm's environmental debt

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References (14)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN
1052-7613
eISSN
1099-0755
DOI
10.1002/aqc.764
Publisher site
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Abstract

The coastal realm’s environmental debt G. CARLETON RAY* Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA Hurricane Katrina sent a powerful message when it devastated the US Gulf Coast in September 2005. This ‘perfect storm’ resulted in massive environmental destruction that will take billions of dollars and decades of time to repair, and is a stunning example of how human activities can make natural disasters infinitely worse. In short, the Gulf Coast is now faced with an environmental debt (‘environmental deficit’ sensu Bormann, 1990) that brings questions to mind about whether the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular can, or should, be restored to their former states. It is not that warnings have been absent. More than three decades ago, a far-sighted, landmark report foretold ‘critical problems of the coastal zone’ (Ketchum, 1972). More recently, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS, 1995) reviewed the major impacts of human activities on coastal and marine environments. Alterations of physical habitats – levees along the Mississippi River, channels in the Delta – stand out, especially with respect to the extent of these effects on hydrology, sedimentation, coastal eutrophication, and flooding. Equally important are other environmental impacts urgently

Journal

Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 2006

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