Non-human Beings, "Natural" Infrastructure by Alberto Morales
AlbertoMAs a participant in the NOLA Anthropocene Campus, I have gained insights on how communities, stewards, and managers of ecosystems in New Orleans have rolled out forms of interspecies care vis-à-vis ongoing environmental changes, coastal erosion, climate catastrophes and their deeply present and current effects (i.e., the 2010 BP oil disaster). Whilst much analytical lens has been given to geospatial changes in the study of the Anthropocene, here, I focus on how relations to non-human beings, also threatened by the changing tides of NOLA’s waterscapes, can enrich our understanding of such global transformations.
After disasters like Katrina, urban floodwaters harbored many hidden perils in the form of microbes that cause disease. Pathogenic bacterial exposure occurred when wastewater treatment plants and underground sewage got flooded, thus affecting the microbial landscape of New Orleans and increasing the potential of public health risks throughout Southern Louisiana. But one need not wait for a disaster event like Katrina to face these perils. Quotidian activities like decades of human waste and sewage pollution have contaminated public beaches now filled with lurking microbes. Even street puddle waters, such as those found on Bourbon Street, contain unsanitary bacteria level from years of close human exploitation of horses and inadequate drainage in 100-year old thoroughfares. More recently, microbial ecologies have also changed in the Gulf of Mexico due to the harnessing of energy resources like petroleum. Lush habitats for countless species are more and more in danger sounding the bells of extinction for the imperiled southern wild.
Human-alteration has severely damaged the wetland marshes and swamps that would have protected New Orleans from drowning in the water surge that Hurricane Katrina brought from the Gulf of Mexico. The latter is something that lifelong residents (i.e., indigenous coastal groups) of the Mississippi River Mouth have been pointing to for a long time. Over the past century, the river delta’s “natural” infrastructure has been altered by the leveeing of the Mississippi River. Consequently, much of the silt and sediments that would generally run south and deposit in the river mouth to refeed the delta get siphoned off earlier upstream by various irrigation systems.
Emerging Interspecies Relations
AlbertoMWhile some actors see it as a futile effort, there have been many proposals to restore the Mississippi River Delta. For instance, the aerial planting of mangrove seeds has even been recommended to help protect the struggling marshes and Louisiana’s coastal region. Tierra Resources, a wetland’s restoration company, proposed that bombing Lousiana’s coast with mangrove seeds could save it. Mangrove root systems are especially useful in providing structures to trap sediments and provide habitats for countless species. Additionally, mangroves have been touted as highly efficient species in carbon sequestration, thus taking carbon dioxide out of the biosphere.
Species diffusion into new environments has been of great concern for the different lifeways these soggy localities sustain, whether human or non-human. Many so-called “invasive species” have been identified throughout the river delta by researchers at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research hosted by Tulane and Xavier University. Such species have disrupted local ecological relations and practices and have had profound economic effects. Some plants have even entirely blocked waterways in the swamps and estuaries where salt and freshwater mix.
Louisiana’s humid subtropical climate, and the diverse ecosystems therein, also warrant attention in that they can incubate some of the world’s deadliest parasites and other microbes. Of particular concern would be some of today's Neglected Tropical Diseases (i.e., Chagas, Cysticercosis, Dengue fever, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma, Toxocariasis, and West Nile virus) often perceived as only affecting tropical regions of Latin America and revealing the enduring legacies of colonial health disparities.
How and when are seemingly quotidian events and upsets understood as not isolated but rather as produced in conjunction with other anthropocenics worldwide? What roles will interspecies relations and forms of care play as we cope with further anthropocenic agitation?
NOLA’s oldest tree, McDonogh Oak in City Park, 800 years old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK9YoGpng_c&t=0s
Other trees in New Orleans: https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/new-orleans-louisiana/trees
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maryclare.crochiereIt is part of the ebola response, but does not disclose any sources of funding.
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maryclare.crochiereExamples from history are used to support claims from 9/11, as the author is a historian, and probably following the saying "history repeats itself" to show similarities between disasters and responses.
Newspaper atricles were also cited to show public response.
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maryclare.crochiereThae laws are examined and explained to the reader. Examples of citations from physicians are also included with stories of the individual's journey and experiences.
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maryclare.crochiereThe study addresses the survivors of Katrina fairly soon after the disaster, at a time when they likely do not have much stability. Many were without homes, may have lost family or friends, neighborhoods were torn apart, schools were destroyed, and money was very thin. It was not an easy time, so focusing on this group at such a stressful time was the goal of the study.
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maryclare.crochiereThis article has been referenced in other articles that study disaster PTSD, mental health after hosting refugees from a disaster, and using epidemolody to help draft policies for disaster response. These papers all further the research and possible benefits for humanity.
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maryclare.crochiereThe paper mostly focuses on how the survivors recieve long-term care, since they have severe financial struggles in the aftermath of the disaster. This impacts emergency response since we do need to be funded in some way, and if it is not covered by the healthcare system in the area, then the cost is placed on the individual. If they are in need of immediate care, then this is an issue. They have many health conditions caused by the disaster that could cause a sudden health emergency. If they do not feel they can financially support calling an ambulance, then it places the person's life in jeopardy.