Climate change is already battering this West African city
According to the United Nations Development Program, by 2050, some 200 million people around the world could be displaced due to shoreline erosion, coastal flooding, and agricultural disruption. From Lisbon to Mumbai and Miami, cities across the planet are under threat.
Loïc Brüning, a Ph.D. candidate at Switzerland’s University of Neuchâtel, has been researching the effects of climate change on Saint-Louis since 2016. “It’s a huge problem for developing countries because they don’t have the resources to fight coastal erosion,” he said. “From Mauritania to Cameroon, all the shore is eroded. Whereas cities in the Netherlands have protected themselves because they have the knowledge and finances to do so.”
More than 100 million people live in West Africa’s coastal areas, which generate 42 percent of that region’s gross domestic product, according to the World Bank. Shorelines are receding by as much as 10 meters (33 feet) a year in some areas. [Continue reading…]