Apple is arguably the smartest company in the history of the world. Tim Cook is the CEO.
Mr. Cook was the commencement speaker to the 2019 Tulane University graduates.
“In some important ways, my generation has failed you. We spent too much time debating, too focused on the fight and not enough on progress. You don’t need to look far to find an example of that failure… When we talk about climate change, I challenge you to look for those who have the most to lose and find the real, true empathy that comes from something shared. When you do that, the political noise dies down and you can feel your feet planted on solid ground.”
The Observer 5/20/19 | Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Message to 2019 Graduates: ‘My Generation Has Failed You’
Mr. Cook refers to the loss of Louisiana’s wetlands and attributes the losses to anthropogenic (man-caused) climate change. What are the scientific facts?
Louisiana’s wetlands today represent about 40 percent of the wetlands of the continental United States, but about 80 percent of the losses. The State’s wetlands extend as much as 130 kilometers inland and along the coast for about 300 kilometers. Not all the wetlands are receding; in fact some wetlands are stable, and others are growing. But, at the present net rate of wetlands loss, Louisiana will have lost this crucial habitat in about 200 years. Considerable effort has been expended, and will continue to be expended, on understanding the processes that control wetlands evolution.
USGS: Louisiana Coastal Wetlands: A Resource At Risk
Progressive hysteria over anthropogenic climate change warps reason. Consider these thoughts.
The USGS scientific report attributes loss of wetlands to (1) land subsidence, (2) erosion, and (3) climate change. The inferences are subtle and intentional. Genuine scientists want you to read in between the lines.
If rising tides due to climate change were a cause, would not the sea level rise affect all coastal land?
Land subsidence is a product of groundwater extraction and coastal soil erosion. The coastal soil erosion is, in fact, partly a natural process and partly a result of oil and gas exploration, the latter a consequence of the construction of a myriad of canals to get drilling rigs and pipelines in place. It would be impossible to deliver drilling equipment overland. Why? It’s a marsh, a wetland, a vast wetland.
Mr. Cook’s irrational liberal-progressive worldview warps his reason.
Can the land erosion and subsidence be stopped? Yes, and it happens naturally. Why are the wetlands wet?
Water in wetlands can come from either surface-or ground-water sources or from both. Wetlands can function as storage reservoirs for streams or sources of recharge for ground-water systems… Soils that underlie wetlands determine the rate at which water percolates downward to recharge the ground-water system or discharges from it. Precipitation in Louisiana. which averages between 50 to 60 inches per year (Newton, 1972), provides much of the surface-water runoff that maintains the State’s wetlands… Most wetlands in Louisiana are closely associated with the State’s major rivers, bayous, and streams [ Amite River, Atchafalaya River, Bayou Bartholomew, Bayou Macon, Bayou Teche, Black Lake Bayou, Black River, Boeuf River, Bogue Chitto, Calcasieu River, Castor Creek, Dugdemona River, Little River, Mermentau River, Mississippi River, Ouachita River, Pearl River, Red River, Sabine River ].
National Water Summary Wetland Resources: Louisiana
Bottom Line: the purported rise of mean sea level (MSL) due to anthropogenic climate change remains an unscientific myth. And those who conflate sea level rise and land subsidence are intellectual embarrassments.
John White | Rockwall, Texas
John N. White 