Houston, TX, Wetland Loss Prior to Hurricane Harvey

Scientists estimate significant loss of wetland habitat upwards of 30% in some portions of Houston, Texas. While these wetlands would not have prevented the destruction of Hurricane Harvey, there presence would have softened the blow, analogous to the effect of mangrove habitat loss prior to the 2004 tsunami. This landsat classification and subsequent raster calculation estimates a 33% loss of wetland habitat for the northwest portion of Houston from 1987 to 2017.