re: NYT: Editorial on Climate Change and Louisiana

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It sure hasn't stooped the Atchafalya from depositing a bunch of sediment at its mouth and creating more land.

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I've read reports that say the Mississippi un-leveed wouldn't create land like it used to because it doesn't carry nearly the amount of silt it used to. But, as said, if the Atchafalaya is building land, why wouldn't the Mississippi?

Here's the other thing. You know the dead zone in the Gulf? It's caused by fertilizers from the river concentrating in the gulf and creating algae blooms.

Now, my question is, what would happen to marshes if they were flooded with these fertilized waters? Wouldn't accelerated vegetation growth perhaps overcompensate for the absence of silt coming downriver? I love the concept of these fertilized waters nourishing marsh grass growth and, in the process, reducing the dead zone problem in the Gulf.

Never seen any science discuss this, though.