A skyscraper in Louisiana that once boasted hurricane-proof glass has been demolished after storm damage proved too severe for the tower to recover.
What's happening?
Lake Charles, a city on the Louisiana coast, has been battered by hurricanes over the last two decades.
While Capital One Tower was able to recover from a two-year closure following Hurricane Rita in 2005, it was back-to-back hurricanes in 2020, Laura and Delta, that eventually hastened the building's demise.
Laura's 150-mile-per-hour winds broke through that hurricane-proof glass. After boarding those openings with plywood, Delta's 100-mile-per-hour gusts ripped through that temporary protection.
Standing as a reminder of the city's weather-based woes for the next four years, the city decided to call time on the former city landmark, imploding the property on Sept. 7.
"There's a lot of history there, but it needed to come down," local shop owner Rhonda Kleckley told the Guardian.
Why is this concerning for Louisiana?
Ironically, for Capital One Tower, as the Guardian observed, the City Club restaurant at the top offered views over the oil refineries and petrochemical plants that likely hastened its demise.
These industrial sites are notable producers of planet-warming pollution, with these harmful gases increasing the strength and regularity of extreme weather events like hurricanes.
According to Human Rights Watch, Lake Charles is one area of Louisiana that has petrochemical facilities monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency for emissions that exacerbate global heating and have been linked to health problems for residents.
In fact, the Guardian cited data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that says the state accounts for 10% of the United States' natural gas production and 61% of the country's natural gas exports.
But it's not just the state's landmarks that are being impacted. Homes and businesses have had to deal with disproportionate hurricane devastation in the last 20 years, putting the lives and livelihoods of residents at risk.
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What can be done to reduce hurricane risks?
In Louisiana, it's vital for these petrochemical plants' polluting impact to be kept in check by government organizations and lawmakers, not just for the health of the planet but for the health of the state's population, too.
But if we all avoid the use of polluting gas and oil, we can demonstrate that demand for dirty fuel is not so high that vast production and refinery activity needs to continue at its current rate.
Instead of using a gas-powered car, for example, consider a tailpipe-pollution-free electric vehicle. Otherwise, you could make use of your area's public transport network or travel by bike over short distances.
You could also move away from reliance on natural gas. For example, switch to an electric induction stove rather than a gas-powered one, or swap your gas boiler for an air or heat pump to control the temperature in your home.
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