Sea Level Rise in Louisiana

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 Sea Level Rise in Louisiana

Throughout the last two decades, the impact of climate change has been at its peak affecting the entire world. Due to the rapid warming of Earth causing ice sheets to melt, the rise of the sea level has been one of the strongest effects we have witnessed due to climate change. This environmental issue has caused damages from which we will never be able to recover. In the United States, Lousiana has been affected the most by rising sea levels, along with Texas. With its south facing the Gulf of Mexico, the sea level around Louisiana is already 24 inches higher than it was in 1950 resulting in the loss of approximtely 25 square miles of land per decade (SeaLevelRise.org, 2016). The main contributor to sea level rise in the state is land sinkage, which prevents protection from storm surges and floods. Many locals depend on the water to make a living, but most importantly it is part of their culture and it is slowly being taken away from them. 

Louisana is a vivid example of what can happen in other states if we do not take action. For this reason, I decided to contribute to the solution by using the power of social media. @SLRLOUISIANA is an Instagram account dedicated to spreading awareness of sea level rise in Louisana. My mission was to engage with the public by using visuals that will encourage them to learn more about the issue. 



For my project, I decided to target the general public. This varies widely from students to professionals, and I wanted to target this specific audience because I believe this is an issue everyone should be concerned about. Using Instagram as my medium allowed me to do so in a way that was suitable for all age groups to engage with the content provided. The account has a total of 7 posts that include pictures and videos with captions that contain information related to them. With the help of friends, I managed to reach my goal of at least 50 followers in just two days. The account received an average of 17 likes per posts and 31 views per story shared. 


Overall, my project was a success and backwards planning played an important role in this. Setting a goal and working from there helped me visualize how my project was going to look like and what I needed to do in order to make it happen. Digital media is a very powerful way to create awareness of the environmental issues that we are facing today. We spend most of our time on our phones scrolling through Instagram and Tik Tok. Why not take advantage of it to save the Earth? I invite you all to take a peak at @SLRLOUISIANA by typing it on the Explore page on your Insatgram app or by scanning the code below. Thank you!







References

 

 Hall, D. (Director). (2019, April 1). PT. 1: Sea Level Rise, Erosion Drive Louisiana’s Coastal Crisis |            NBC Nightly News [Video file]. Retrieved September 7, 2020, from https://youtu.be/MD-                      6lJ1XssU9iu80

Pezzullo, P. C., & Cox, J. R. (2018). Environmental communication and the public sphere (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

 SeaLevelRise.org. (2016). Louisiana's Sea Level Is Rising. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from      https://sealevelrise.org/states/louisiana/

Shankman, S. (2019, July 03). Louisiana's New Climate Plan Prepares for Resilience and Retreat as Sea Level Rises. Retrieved September 07, 2020, from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17052019/louisiana-climate-migration-plan-retreat-sea-level-rise-global-warming



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