Activities that illustrate Barry's hypothesis in "Pittsbugh cabbie"

New Orleans Flood map - post hurricane Katrina
Originally uploaded by GISuser.com

1. Map of the Gulf coastal plain showing a triangular area from Cape Girardeau, MO, to Texas and Ala.
Wavelines show former extent of the Gulf.
Shark’s teeth found in Miss. are evidence.

2. Sketch of trees and dirt collapsing into the river channel.

3. Sketch shows concrete panels being used on the river channel sides and bottom to make a canal-like waterway. Label sediment being trapped and not allowed to flow into the river. Label: River deprived of 60% of its former sediment load.

4. Sketch map that shows Tulsa, KC, Minneapolis, Cincinatti and Pittsburgh. Show the rivers that connect to the Miss valley.
Label: 20% of US exports. 60% of grain exports. NO is busiest port.


5. Sketch of the Miss delta at the mouth of the river. Label: jetties ectend 2 miles into Gulf. Sediment is deposited off the continental shelf.

6. Sketch map of La and Miss that shows levees preventing alluvial soil from being distributed across the cotton and soybean fields.

7. Sketch coastal La. showing I-10 and the marshes. Sketch fine lines that penetrate the coast line and go to well heads (a square - in reality it looks like a steel valve with a giant steel valve control wheel atop it.)
Label: 10,000 miles of canals service oil and gas wells. Label: arrows show saltwater going up the canals to cripple the marshland. Label: 2,100 square miles of coastal land and barrier islands have melted into the Gulf of Mexico.

8. Sketch US outline map. Label: The nation as a whole gets nearly all the benefits of engineering the river. Louisiana and some of coastal Mississippi get 100 percent of the costs. Why should a cab driver in Pittsburgh or Tulsa pay to fix Louisiana's coast? Because he gets a stronger economy and lower energy costs from it, and because his benefits created the problem.

9. Map of New Orleans:
* French Quarter (grid)
* Uptown (upriver): Tulane, Loyola, Xavier, Audubon Park.
* Downtown: the Central Business District. Canal St.
* Lakefront: UNO, canals.
* Ship Channel that connects L. Pontchartrain w Miss R.
* Lower 9th ward.
* St Bernard Parish.
* Areas of higher elevation near rim of “bowl.”