New Orleans is already almost completely below mean sea level. In many places, the highest geographic point is the Mississippi River. Building levees and flood-control structures directly contributes to the further erosion and loss of delta lands in the Gulf. The very structures that would save New Orleans also doom it. John McPhee's writing on the Atchafalya Old River Control Structure is fascinating.
New Orleans is already almost completely below mean sea level. In many places, the highest geographic point is the Mississippi River. Building levees and flood-control structures directly contributes to the further erosion and loss of delta lands in the Gulf. The very structures that would save New Orleans also doom it. John McPhee's writing on the Atchafalya Old River Control Structure is fascinating.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1987/02/23/1987_02_23_039_T...