'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study finds

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/04/new-orleans-sea-levels-relocation-climate-crisis

Louisiana’s cultural hotspot could be surrounded by Gulf of Mexico before end of this century, authors say

By Oliver Milman
Mon 4 May 2026 10.00 BST

The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.

Ongoing sea-level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century”.

Low-lying southern Louisiana faces multiple threats, with rising sea levels driven by global heating, compounded by strengthening hurricanes, also a feature of the climate crisis, and the gradual subsidence of a coastline that has been carved apart by the oil and gas industry.

Southern Louisiana is facing 3-7 metres of sea-level rise and the loss of three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands, which will cause the shoreline “to migrate as much as 100km (62 miles) inland”, thereby stranding New Orleans and Baton Rouge, according to the study, which compared today’s rising global temperatures with a period of similar heat 125,000 years ago that caused a rise in sea level.

…

Törnqvist, T.E., Castro, B., Keenan, J.M. et al. Climate-driven depopulation and adaptation realities in America’s coastal ground zero. Nat Sustain (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01820-z

[rampartd]

1. i am almost 74 years old.

my city, my home, my ancestors' graves, and myself will be under water, but i'm betting after i die.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I guess that may depend on which part of the city you're in

I was at the World Exposition in 1984. (It wasn’t my only visit.) The motto was “World of Rivers” and a local exhibit drove home to me how the elevation of various parts of the city compared to “sea level.” When Katrina hit I flashed back to the maps I had seen twenty years earlier…

[rampartd]

7. my own house was just above the water line after katrina

but most were not so lucky.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. My godson volunteered to help with the Katrina cleanup

He visited multiple times.

[rampartd]

11. thank him please.

we still aren't full speed, and as the article makes clear, may never be.

[LT Barclay]

5. There is an office of LA department of fish and wildlife that has 2 aerial photos

One post WW2 and the other was from 2000 (I think) but the difference was shocking. The state isn’t just eroding from the shoreline in, but literally just sinking. Areas that were ponds are now huge lakes and that process will be accelerating.
Personally I don’t see any way NOLA can make it to 2100.

[mountain grammy]

12. I'm so glad I got to spend some time there over the years.

the food, the festivals, the music, music, music.. just walk down the street and there's music coming from somewhere.

I love that city! At 78 I'm sure I'll never be back, but what wonderful memories.

[Permanut]

2. I'm sure Governor Landry will take the proper actions to protect the citizens of Louisiana..

Oh, wait, he said climate change is a hoax.

Never mind.

[rampartd]

8. landry is too busy meddling in lsu athletics

and of course his duties as viceroy of greenland.

we have not had a big disaster with landry. yet.

[waterwatcher123]

4. Send this to the idiot in charge of EPA (Lee Zeldin).

He was the person who revoked the Endangerment Finding in the Clean Air Act that allows EPA to regulate carbon emissions. He did this in-spite of overwhelming opposition to the idea.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. As much as I would like to blame him and his boss' policies, this has been a long time coming.

While they have been actively opposing efforts to combat climate change, their predecessors failed to act responsibly going back to the 1960’s.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-what-10-presidents-have-known-60-minutes/

Climate change: What 10 presidents have known
By Brit McCandless Farmer
March 3, 2019 / 6:47 PM EST / CBS News

There's a White House memorandum that addresses "the carbon dioxide problem" in straightforward terms. The process, it reads, is simple. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has the effect of a pane of glass in a greenhouse. With all the fossil fuels man is now burning, more carbon dioxide is entering the atmosphere and raising temperatures, which in turn will raise sea levels.

"Goodbye New York," it reads. "Goodbye Washington, for that matter."

The memo isn't remarkable for its dire warning. It's noteworthy because it is dated almost 50 years ago: September 17, 1969.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, an adviser to President Richard Nixon at the time, authored it to raise awareness of the "apocalyptic change."

…

Moynihan was writing about the results of a study done during the Johnson administration, in response to warnings given to Kennedy.

[in2herbs]

6. Totally agree! In fact I recommend that they be moved out of state so they can't vote in Louisiana

for the mid terms or in 2028. Just think, how a move will affect the R majority if enough move out of Louisiana before the midterms or even 2028.