St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, has experienced tremendous urbanization, resulting in the loss of timberland. This study's objectives were to develop a model using parish-level data that estimates the probability of urban development in a pine or mixed forest parcel, and to identify the parcels most likely to be developed. The geographic data sets used include satellite imagery from 1981 and 1993, U.S. Census data, population growth estimates from the St. Tammany Parish Government, and road coverages.

Cities have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth in the last decade. More than half the world's population lives in urban areas, with the U.S. percentage at 80 percent. Cities have captured more than 80 percent of the globe's economic activity and offered social mobility and economic prosperity to millions by clustering creative, innovative, and educated individuals and organizations. Clustering populations, however, can compound both positive and negative conditions, with many modern urban areas experiencing growing inequality, debility, and environmental degradation.

With the help of our Community Scientists we will learn where plastic is accumulating and quantify how much is being found and how quickly it is settling. This information will help with other projects in the future and inform how Louisiana and the Gulf States approach this problem in our region.

pH is a measure of how acidic/basic water is. The range goes from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. pHs of less than 7 indicate acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base. The pH of water is a very important measurement concerning water quality.

Scientists Accidentally Discovered A Plastic Eating Enzyme That Could Revolutionize Recycling: An international team of scientists have accidentally enhanced a plastic eating enzyme in a discovery that could change our relationship with plastic forever. The breakthrough, if scaled up, could lead to plastic being broken down into its original components and formed into plastic items again, removing the need for making more of the material.

Where do we stand concerning the research on the effects of plastic on the human body? What can we conclude from today's talks? What should be the next steps for both research and policy? In this closing session of the Plastic Health Summit, we will reiterate the answers to preliminary questions regarding plastic and human health and give you a summary of the world's first Plastic Health Summit.

OceanPlastic List is the global online community for sharing knowledge on the research, management, and prevention of ocean plastic and other marine debris. The community includes scientists, resource managers, policymakers, conservationists, industry representatives, and others.

The mouth of Bayou St. John, for a cast of officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and Orleans Levee District, represents more than anything a point of vulnerability. Their priority is simple: keep storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain at bay, and prevent the transformation of a natural waterway into a highway for delivering floodwater to New Orleans' heart. But for an increasingly vocal alliance of New Orleanians, the junction of the bayou and the vast lake represents much more than a flood protection issue.

Jamali Maddix talks with an environmentalist about how drilling for fuel usually means pushing contamination into the places where lower-class people live." Pollution from the oil and gas industry can be a danger to surrounding communtiies, and the risks for marginalized communities frequently outweigh those for others. This video follows one individual's experiences with the effects of environmental racism and the lack of regulations for oil and gas companies

This island will cease to exist. That much seems certain. Over the last six decades, more than 98% of Isle de Jean Charles has vanished into the Gulf of Mexico, leaving a frail strip of land just two miles long and a quarter-mile wide. With each high tide and with each hurricane, a little more of this historic Native American land sinks below the surface. Cow pastures are gone. Rice fields are gone. The encroaching saltwater seeps into the roots of the towering live oaks that loom over the bayou, transforming them into eerie gray skeletons.