Mississippi River Drought Reveals Horrors Beneath the Surface

the Mississippi River has long been a symbol of American strength unity and prosperity and yet lately it's been stricken by drought causing it to recede in places it previously hadn't because of this not only are there an abundance of items and Oddities washing up ashore but there could be some serious implications on the local and National economy joint vocation as we present the Mississippi River drought reveals Horrors beneath the surface when you travel to the Mississippi River you usually expect to see America's greatest water expanse shining across the Horizon and yet drought conditions have drastically changed this nowadays you'll see previously sunken ships that have now reached the surface as well as a random array of new islands caused by the recession of the water locals who have grown up with the Raging Waters of the Mississippi are shocked and dismayed to find that the once healthy river is now running a dangerously low levels the Mississippi doesn't only have symbolic importance either its long-running current has supplied water and power to the the towns and cities that run along it and often if they were worried about the river it was because it was swelling and causing local flooding but these days it's the opposite problem the waters are suffering from drought conditions putting the region and the nation in Peril and dredging up an odd assortment of items previously underwater the lowest in 30 years things are particularly bad in the Lower Mississippi this is the portion of the river south of Cairo Illinois levels there are the lowest they've seen in more than three decades and if the region doesn't see some serious rainfall soon conditions could get worse it has already put the Region's Waterway system in danger as well as drinking water and this isn't just a local issue the Mississippi at 2350 miles long brings water to a huge part of the country it touches 10 states and then branches out into many smaller waterways and tributaries so not having enough water in the Mississippi itself can have Ripple effects to more than 40 percent of the U.S the river also serves as a major transportation pathway as cargo ships use it to carry about 500 million tons of goods every year this not only includes non-edible Goods but also a huge percentage of the world's food supply so the stakes of the Mississippi River remaining at normal levels can't be overstated because of the current conditions ships have had to carry less weight meaning fewer goods are being transported it also means fewer ships can be on the water at a time and that means there are essentially traffic jams up and down the water that causes companies to have to use more fuel spiking the price of transporting goods unearthing a variety of things in recent years other rivers have gone through a similar process and there have been a host of odd and sometimes horrible things Unearthed as the river waters have receded for example the Colorado River has been slammed by drought and this has led to the appearance of everything from shipwrecks and plane wrecks to dead bodies the receding Waters of the Mississippi have begun to reveal an assortment of items as well for starters known islands are popping back up such as the case with Tower Rock which is an island in Missouri while it wasn't totally hidden previously it is now accessible by foot for the first time in a century people are finding household items like Keys fans and phones they're also discovering sunglasses and larger items like barbecue grills recently in Baton Rouge Louisiana a 19th century trading boat was Unearthed it had been sitting just under the surface until the drought the historical relics are among the interesting finds that locals have been dredging up one man from Memphis discovered not only a belt buckle that dated back to the Civil War era but also bullets from the war other items found dozens of previously sunken ships of a variety of types are slowly being discovered along the Mississippi this ranges from houseboats to more historically important ships for example in 2004 the town of Donaldsonville Louisiana tried to boost tourism to the area by featuring a three-masted ship called La Pelican as a tourist attraction the ship had belonged to an Explorer from the 1600s named Iberville sadly the ship's sank and the town wasted their two million dollar investment in the project but now almost 20 years later the ship is back sort of the waters around it have receded so you can catch a glimpse of what a 17th century exploration vessel looks like in Biloxi Mississippi residents have noticed the newly Unearthed remains of a former riverboat casino it was called The Diamond lady and it was actually one of the earliest of its kind to set sail in the South this was back in the early 1990s it was found in McKellar Lake just south of Memphis another odd find was by a man named Wiley Pruitt Pruitt lives in Oxford Mississippi and he discovered an item sticking out of a local Sandbar upon closer investigation he discovered it was a jaw when he researched its Origins he discovered it was a jaw from an American lion this species went extinct more than ten thousand years ago his find was historical in itself he's only the fourth person to discover an American lion fossilized jaw ever in Mississippi [Music] emergency relief in response to the receding Waters of the Mississippi from this recent Mega drought legislation is being proposed to help the Mississippi River restoration and resilience initiative is being brought before Congress if it passes it'll provide much needed money to focus on restoring and conserving the Mississippi there would be grants available for state and local governments along the Mississippi's route as well as for non-profit companies and Native American tribes it would hopefully provide some relief for the devastating effects the low waters are having on the region and the nation in addition to the economic aspects there's the environmental and animal components as well there are 45 species of amphibians who live along the Mississippi as well as 50 kinds of mammals and 241 species of fish hopefully this measure will pass and funds can be allocated in time to help ease the pain of the drought the Mississippi River cities and towns initiative recently a news conference was held by the Mississippi River cities and towns initiative and it featured local Mayors and other leaders of towns along the Mississippi they publicly asked for federal help to combat the effects of the Mississippi's drought conditions they pointed out that the Mississippi River Basin produces a huge percentage around 92 percent of the Agricultural exports in the U.S it also produces about 80 percent of the exports to the world of soybeans and feed grains this means the drought is no longer a local or even National problem it now has Global repercussions and because the Mississippi is the biggest drainage basin in the country the physical effects of the drought are quickly moving through much of the country the department of agriculture's Midwest climate Hub said that around 50 percent of the Upper Mississippi Basin is in drought conditions and over 90 percent of the lower Basin is as well the Mayors asked specifically for federal disaster funds to be used to help the cities and towns affected by the drought they also requested that farmers who volunteered to move their land out of irrigation paths be given subsidies and that more money be put into methods of minimizing drought in the future shipping delays Americans had to deal with the harsh reality of shipping delays that resulted from the covid-19 pandemic and according to experts the same thing could happen because of the drought in the Mississippi they say that while it might not happen as quickly and dramatically as it did during the pandemic it still will come for example one local official pointed out things like a lack of road salt for snowy days will be severely felt during the dead of winter there are also health risks dry conditions mean pipes are more likely to freeze a town in Missouri Cape Girardeau had their main water valve break recently because of the ultra dry conditions this meant there was a serious threat to the drinking water in the area not only that but there are many cities that had to completely overhaul their water systems after massive flooding in 2019 this new issue might mean they'll have to completely redo all that work experts point out that this shows just how interconnected various climate issues really are now it's time to hear from you did you know about the drought going on in the Mississippi River do you think it'll have a significant economic impact on the country let us know in the comments section below

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Keywords: Mississippi River Drought Reveals Horrors Beneath the Surface, Mississippi River Drought, drought of Mississippi River, Mississippi River, Mississippi River drought 2022, Viewcation, Viewcation presents, Mississippi River drought facts, Mississippi River facts, Mississippi River drought news, Mississippi River news, Mississippi River drought story, Mississippi River story, Mississippi

Id: 5krg3wo2LLc

Length: 8min 53sec (533 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 11 2022