Climate destruction, as seen in the bayou and Montana

Storm damage in Louisiana
A scene in southern Louisiana after a storm hit. Today, rising sea levels are a certain danger for Gulf Coast communities.
Max Becherer | AP file

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We're going on an American road trip, of sorts, for this week's Climate Cast.

We start in Jean Lafitte, a village in the Louisiana bayou that awaits the impending doom of rising ocean waters taking over the community.

Then we head to Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka where researchers are studying how warmer, shorter winters are affecting lakes come summertime.

Finally, we end up in Montana's Glacier National Park. There, scientists have been documenting the final days of ice in the iconic park. Photos illustrate the scale of the destruction.

Here's some more on what we'll cover:

Left to Louisiana's tides, a village fights for time. That's the title of a massive new report by the New York Times and NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune, and it's not even a little bit over-dramatic. The sea will take over Jean Lafitte. There's no stopping it. The question now is how much public money to spend on delaying the inevitable. John Schwartz, a reporter on the story, tells Climate Cast host Paul Huttner about what he and his companions found.

Shorter winters might have a big effect on lakes in summers. And it might affect the fishing and how safe the water is in your favorite lake. Climate Cast digital producer Cody Nelson catches up with a researcher who's trying to figure out what is going on. Read the full story here.

The last days of ice at Glacier National Park. Montana's famous wilderness area is a "poster child" for climate change. That's not a compliment in this case. Lisa McKeon, a U.S. Geological Survey biologist, has been photographing the dramatic changes at Glacier. She tells Huttner what she's seen. See below for striking images from Glacier, before and after the climate started its rapid warming.

Glacier National Park, now and then

All images courtesy of the USGS.

Boulder Glacier at Chapman Peak

Jackson Glacier

Grinnell Glacier

Bolder Glacier ice cave

Iceberg Glacier