Plot Line: Land Converts to Water
Mapping Out the Story
While conservation practices help in slowing the rate of loss, Louisiana continues to lose an alarming amount of land. Even if the Mississippi River were immediately to commence building land at its historic rate, it would take centuries to regain the land lost over the past 50 years.
Courtesy of USGS
Maps illustrate land changes that have occurred as well as those likely to occur during the next 50 years. Over the past several decades, the subprovince composed primarily of Terrebonne Parish has suffered the most dramatic loss, over 10 percent of its area converting to water since 1978. Projections indicate it is likely to lose another 11 percent (229 square miles) by 2050.
Traveling at 60 mph it would take 2 ½ hours to circumnavigate an equivalent area
The lost area is
- about the size of Delaware
- 31 times the size of the District of Columbia
- the size of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Houston combined
On average, Louisiana has lost an area the size of
- an executive desk top every second
- a tennis court every 13 seconds
- a small cottage every minute
In the next 50 years, the rate of loss will approximate
- one coat closet every second
- one office cubicle every 10 seconds
- one large conference room every minute
In the time it has taken you to read this chart, a chunk of Louisiana 50 times the size of your easy chair has converted from land to water.