Before the Flood
In 2002 the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a prophetic series detailing how a major hurricane could devastate southern Louisiana. This week the Times-Picayune is back with another series, "Last Chance," that describes how Louisiana has a decade or less to save the coast around New Orleans. Reporters Bob Marshall (no relation) and Mark Schleifsteindiscuss how political infighting, bureaucratic red tape and the hunt for oil and gas has led to the coast's steady destruction. Staff artist Dan Swenson contributes a brilliant interactive graphic that illustrates how nature built the Louisiana coastline over thousands of years and how human activity and natural disasters have led to its swift erosion, leaving New Orleans increasingly vulnerable as a football field worth of wetlands is lost every 45 minutes. This is a great example of explanatory journalism. www.nola.com/speced/lastchance/