We know Louisiana is threatened by rising seas and sinking land. But residents of the shrinking community of Isle de Jean Charles, about 80 miles from New Orleans, have seen it firsthand.
“From here to Pointe-Aux-Chenes, it was all grass. Now it’s all water,” says Edison Dardar in a documentary called “Vanishing Island.”
“When I was young, about maybe 250 houses, maybe 300 houses,” he says. “Now there’s maybe 20.”
Filmmaker Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee wrote in The New York Times:
The island is a ground zero for climate change – affected by rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and increasingly severe storms. Experts predict that these problems will soon confront coastal areas around the world. As another hurricane season begins this week, residents are aware of the threat to their home. What is it like to experience these changes, knowing there is little to nothing you can do to stop them?
Thursday at 12:15 p.m. CT, The Lens’ Bob Marshall will talk with Vaughan-Lee about the documentary and the challenges faced by residents in coastal Louisiana. Watch the video and join us.