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Compared to the present coastal situation, for which vulnerability is quite high, an increase in hurricane intensity will further affect low -lying coastal ecosystems and coastal communi- ties along the Gulf and South Atlantic coastal margin. An increase in intensity is very likely to increase inland and coastal flooding, coastal erosion rates, wind damage to coastal forests, and wetland loss. Major hurricanes also pose LL a severe risk to people, personal property, and public infrastructure in the Southeast, and this risk is likely to be exacerbated........ Hurricanes have their greatest impact at the coastal mar- gin where they make landfall, causing storm surge, severe beach erosion, inland flooding, and wind - related casualties for both cultural and natural resources. Some of these impacts extend farther inland, affecting larger areas. Recent examples of societal vulnerability to severe hurricanes include Katrina and Rita in 2005, which were responsible for the loss of more than 1,800 lives and the net loss of 217 square miles of low -lying coastal marshes and barrier islands in southern Louisiana.390,396 somm fW Q 1910 11WO *30 1 O 1950 V960 1970 IM 1990, 2000 210 Year rd OA A/ NIC. DC.3 r7 major throughout the region, causing to ecosystems r to the benefits they provide to people. I Ecological systems provide numerous important services that have high economic and cultural value in the Southeast. Ecological effects cascade among both living and physical systems, as illustrated in the following examples of ecologi- cal disturbances that result in abrupt responses, as opposed to gradual and proportional responses to warming: • The sudden loss of coastal landforms that serve as a storm - surge barrier for natural resources and as a homeland for coastal communities (such as in a major hurricane). 154,390 • An increase in sea level can have no apparent effect until an elevation is reached that allows widespread, rapid salt- water intrusion into coastal forests and freshwater aqui- fers. 398 • Lower soil moisture and higher temperatures leading to in- tense wildfires or pest outbreaks (such as the southern pine beetle) in southeastern forests;399 intense droughts leading to the drying of lakes, ponds, and wetlands; and the local or global extinction of riparian and aquatic specie S.141 Flooding damage in Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina up 115