it's a river in the U.S. as well. I've mentioned this before but it seems like a good time to pay it a visit, since the world in general has its collective head up its ass in many ways. (Viz. Australia.)
Over geological time, the Mississippi River has continually changed its course. This has been known for a long time. Here's a map made in 1944 that shows some of the geological history that was already known back then. This happens because it flows across the flat midsection of the country and it meanders. On the outside of a meander the water moves faster and cuts into the bank. On the inside, it flows slowly and deposits sediment. So eventually it cuts a new channel. For example in 1876 the city of Vicksburg, which was formerly on the river, suddenly wasn't any more.
Too bad for Vicksburg (which was subsequently reconnected to the river by a canal), but that was only a local disaster. But if not for a massive engineering project called the Old River Control Structure, as of today the Mississippi would not flow through New Orleans. Rather, it would jump course and the main flow of the river would go down the Atchafalaya. If that doesn't sound like it would be such a bad thing:
a) Yes it would be very, very bad and
b) It will happen.
The Old River Control Structure is destined to fail, because sediment builds up downstream of it and continually increases the pressure. With the increasingly frequent and severe flooding caused by the Chinese Hoax, the likelihood of failure increases even faster. No-one can predict exactly when it will happen but when it does:
Barge traffic to and from New Orleans will become impossible. That means the U.S. will be unable to export agricultural products from the midwest, including 60% of the nation's grain exports, creating a global food shortage. Morgan City, Louisiana will be destroyed along with several small towns. Pipelines and electrical transmission lines that currently cross the Atchafalaya will also be destroyed. Vast areas will lose electricity and natural gas. One and a half million people will lose fresh water. [Update: This means that New Orleans will have to be abandoned.] Notice I use the future tense, not the conditional. All of this will happen.
There is a solution, which is to let it happen gradually. That will mean eventual abandonment of existing Mississippi River ports, and creation of new ones. Morgan City will replace New Orleans as the principle city at the mouth of the Mississippi. (It will have to be moved as well as greatly expanded.) The refineries and other infrastructure currently at the mouth of the Mississippi will have to be abandoned and rebuilt at the mouth of the Atchafalaya, but all that's going to happen anyway.
However, people are not sufficiently wise.
BTW I gave you the link to Part Three of the three-part Weather Underground series on this. You might want to start here.
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4 comments:
Wow. I am amazed after reading the Weather Underground linked article. There is so much incredible info in the world that so many of us are just not aware of. The sixth-grade class where I work with students in social studies just studied the effects of the Three Gorges Dam, starting with the incredible cost and engineering that went into it. All of our technological marvels come with side effects great and small, and often the negative side effects outweigh the positive ones in the long run.
Dr. P -- I'd be happy to hear what you learned about the Three Gorges Dam but the mere fact that you spoke with people about it isn't enough.
The comment wasn't offensive, just off topic. If you have something interesting to say about the TGD, let's hear it.
OK, fair enough.
The Chinese government gave those who were dislocated a special status in allowing them to be small entrepreneurs. This is extremely rare. Private citizens are not allowed to own real property or engage in business in China. Foreigners can partner with the government, but the citizens can't.
I met with several small merchants that enjoyed this privilege and they were the envy of their peers. Some owned restaurants in the old part of Beijing. Most were their homes that they converted to dual use, both a business and a home.
I also was told by a government representative that one of the reasons Three Gorges was created was to reduce their dependency on coal. Don't trust anything these guys say, though.
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