Union of Concerned Scientists

Human Perspectives

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Whether you are a shrimp trawler captain, a vacationer, a cotton farmer, or any other resident of or visitor to the Gulf Coast states, your life will be touched by a changing climate. Find out what global warming means in the daily lives of folks in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas by exploring our interactive web feature "Human Perspectives."

While you visit with some hypothetical Gulf Coast residents and visitors, you will also learn about the region's unique and precious ecological heritage—and how closely ecology and economy are linked. Did you know, for example, that baby shrimp grow up in the fertile and protective wetlands of the Gulf Coast? Would you have ever guessed that Alabama is a fisher's paradise because the state's rivers have more different types of fish than anywhere else in the country? Did you realize that rice and salt water just don't mix?

In just a few years, the population of these five states is expected to grow to one-and-a-half times its current size. Climate change added on top of the human pressures already squeezing Gulf Coast ecosystems spells trouble for the health and well-being of the region's residents—both human and otherwise.

Check out what's happening to the social and ecological fabric of the Gulf Coast region through the eyes of our hypothetical characters in the Human Perspectives feature—and then find out what you can do to help slow global warming.