Search

As 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.

While 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

This argument is supported through discussion of Soviet Russia and how Chernobyl was handled and the legislation that came after the disaster to prevent/treat further meltdowns. Through discussion of Fukishima and how no one knew what to do (the US, Russia or Japan) despite that people in all these countries have experienced nuclear disasters in the past. The discrepancy of international discussions of safety, security and education, but lack of preparation if something would happen. Discussion of doing this internationally has been talked about, but no steps have been made to accomplish this goal.

The three topics I followed up upon was the countries surrounding Ukraine and their impact from the nuclear disaster, the types of radiation poisoning as well as the long term affects, and puterpili (sufferers).

The film was shot after the event had already taken place, however in the film it mentioned interventions that were used, methods of putting water on the melting fuel rods. It also indirectly mentioned (hinted at) a need to an emergency nuclear response team internationally.

Three points from the article that I looked up was the familial relationships in middle eastern countries, how mental illness is viewed in eastern european countries, and the cultural aspects of a Turkish family.

Through looking at the bibliography I can connect the dots of the problems in Rwanda and Hati that are still not solved. This article can also be considered as a continuation of this research in that aspect.

Three points I followed up on to advance my understanding of emergency response was how other countries report and treat rape, rape as a war crime- is it treated or ignored and in what countries, and incidents of sexual violence that get reported and treated, and further care ( how to help others immediately) and how to respond to these events.

The article referenced historical events of health epidemics in preparing for the future. The lack of current data indicates an improvement in health security or a lack of research for this publication. The extensive quotes in this article show the knowledge and credibility of the article in how securing global health has many aspects.

The tools used to produce the data in this research article was direct accounts from those who have experienced violence in delievering health services, outside brainstorming from a research panal to discover how/why violence has occured or why it was not reported. Also interpretation from data that was put out by the WHO, MSF or other health organizations.