Why is Louisiana losing population compared to other red states?

[Pres Mike]

Louisiana is the first state that is dying from the effects of climate change. It’s literally sinking (in part because of the levee works) and being battered by hurricanes. Why build a factory in a place with near annual flooding? Unless Shreveport, Monroe, or Alexandria has some sorta boom this decade it’ll continue to shrink, physically and demographically.

I do think this could be a reasonable theory for why New Orleans didn't make it.  They also had the misfortune of having their flood disaster early enough that there hadn't really been any technological progress or significant investment in mitigating climate change. 

To take it a step further, maybe Louisiana really needed the very cold 17th-19th century climate to thrive and it was already past the point of no return by WWII or so?  They were already experiencing unprecedented flooding in the 1920's.  New Orleans seemed to have accumulating snow every few years back then, which would kill off a lot of the mosquitoes and tropical diseases.  And of course the sea levels were lower.

I did not know the 1600s-1800s were colder than usual

I knew about the Little Ice Age, I didn't know it lasted so long

[Pres Mike]

Louisiana is the first state that is dying from the effects of climate change. It’s literally sinking (in part because of the levee works) and being battered by hurricanes. Why build a factory in a place with near annual flooding? Unless Shreveport, Monroe, or Alexandria has some sorta boom this decade it’ll continue to shrink, physically and demographically.

I do think this could be a reasonable theory for why New Orleans didn't make it.  They also had the misfortune of having their flood disaster early enough that there hadn't really been any technological progress or significant investment in mitigating climate change. 

To take it a step further, maybe Louisiana really needed the very cold 17th-19th century climate to thrive and it was already past the point of no return by WWII or so?  They were already experiencing unprecedented flooding in the 1920's.  New Orleans seemed to have accumulating snow every few years back then, which would kill off a lot of the mosquitoes and tropical diseases.  And of course the sea levels were lower.

I did not know the 1600s-1800s were colder than usual

I knew about the Little Ice Age, I didn't know it lasted so long

Yes, abnormally cold anywhere within ~1000 miles of the Atlantic.  The Thames, Seine, and Dutch canals were reliably freezing over in an average winter during that period, reliably enough that cities planned ice festivals around it.  Colonial American winters also appear to have been colder than today, especially in New England.  Further south, there is a report of a wide point in the James River freezing over at a fort near Jamestown in 1608.  This has happened in modern times, but apparently only twice during the 20th century (1918 and 1977).  In general, lots of negative Fahrenheit temperatures show up in surprising places in the South as weather monitoring got more scientific in the late 19th century. 

That's not to say it was unrecognizably cold in a consistent way.  A major campaign in the Civil War was impacted by a march through thick mud after series of heavy rainstorms in January in Northern Virginia. Still, around 200 years ago was likely the coldest and driest eastern North America got in 1000 years.  So there was plenty of variability and modern conditions were within range, but the odds of getting an arctic shot like Christmas 2022 to produce a hard freeze on the Gulf Coast in any given winter would have been considerably higher.  And the odds of a record-breaking flood considerably lower.  Snow is more complicated due to lower precipitation back then. 

This is why I love this website. You learn super interesting things outside of politics. Thank you! Very interesting and enlightening

Do you think extreme weather in the 21st century will impact human migration in the US? I have yet to notice

The sunbelt is growing rapidly. Tennessee, my home state, is booming. Yet this summer was 110 degree heat index from May-September. Which seems unusually extreme, but was similar to 2022 and 2021. It’s only getting hotter

[Pres Mike]

Louisiana is the first state that is dying from the effects of climate change. It’s literally sinking (in part because of the levee works) and being battered by hurricanes. Why build a factory in a place with near annual flooding? Unless Shreveport, Monroe, or Alexandria has some sorta boom this decade it’ll continue to shrink, physically and demographically.

I do think this could be a reasonable theory for why New Orleans didn't make it.  They also had the misfortune of having their flood disaster early enough that there hadn't really been any technological progress or significant investment in mitigating climate change. 

To take it a step further, maybe Louisiana really needed the very cold 17th-19th century climate to thrive and it was already past the point of no return by WWII or so?  They were already experiencing unprecedented flooding in the 1920's.  New Orleans seemed to have accumulating snow every few years back then, which would kill off a lot of the mosquitoes and tropical diseases.  And of course the sea levels were lower.

I did not know the 1600s-1800s were colder than usual

I knew about the Little Ice Age, I didn't know it lasted so long

Yes, abnormally cold anywhere within ~1000 miles of the Atlantic.  The Thames, Seine, and Dutch canals were reliably freezing over in an average winter during that period, reliably enough that cities planned ice festivals around it.  Colonial American winters also appear to have been colder than today, especially in New England.  Further south, there is a report of a wide point in the James River freezing over at a fort near Jamestown in 1608.  This has happened in modern times, but apparently only twice during the 20th century (1918 and 1977).  In general, lots of negative Fahrenheit temperatures show up in surprising places in the South as weather monitoring got more scientific in the late 19th century. 

That's not to say it was unrecognizably cold in a consistent way.  A major campaign in the Civil War was impacted by a march through thick mud after series of heavy rainstorms in January in Northern Virginia. Still, around 200 years ago was likely the coldest and driest eastern North America got in 1000 years.  So there was plenty of variability and modern conditions were within range, but the odds of getting an arctic shot like Christmas 2022 to produce a hard freeze on the Gulf Coast in any given winter would have been considerably higher.  And the odds of a record-breaking flood considerably lower.  Snow is more complicated due to lower precipitation back then. 

This is why I love this website. You learn super interesting things outside of politics. Thank you! Very interesting and enlightening

Do you think extreme weather in the 21st century will impact human migration in the US? I have yet to notice

The sunbelt is growing rapidly. Tennessee, my home state, is booming. Yet this summer was 110 degree heat index from May-September. Which seems unusually extreme, but was similar to 2022 and 2021. It’s only getting hotter

Arizona will likely eventually lose population.

From lack of water? I've heard that

But what about Texas and Tennessee? Water is the enemy here. High humidty makes it feel 20 degrees higher. An 88 degree day can feel 100. 95? Basically unlivingable, which is what we experienced this Summer