Saint-Louis, a historic city in Senegal, faces rising sea water that threatens the city's safety.
Water is seeping into the lives of many people across this former capital city of Senegal, Le Monde reports.
What's happening?
"Here, fighting the water is a never-ending battle," said Moussa Niang, one of Saint-Louis' traditional chiefs.
Although city officials have known about flooding concerns for centuries, increasing average global temperatures from a changing climate have exacerbated these issues. Le Monde reports that sea surface temperatures around Saint-Louis are among the highest on the planet, rising by 0.1 to 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade.
In 2008, the U.N.'s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction declared that Saint-Louis was the most at-risk city in Africa for coastal flooding from rising sea levels.
Throughout the mid-to-late 2010s, rising waters destroyed over 3,000 homes in the Guet Ndar neighborhood, which was built on a naturally occurring sandbar. This sand structure remains under constant threat of erosion and flooding.
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The sandbar is a temporary barrier for the mainland. Issa Sakho, a professor of marine and coastal geosciences, explained to Le Monde: "We're buying time, but we won't win the fight."
Local ecosystems have also been altered by increased salt content in water systems as sea levels rise and ocean water creeps in.
Why is the rise in sea levels concerning?
As sea levels rise, water endangers coastal communities and ecosystems worldwide. According to Climate.gov, sea levels have risen 8 to 9 inches since 1880, with the rate of rise increasing markedly in the past few decades.
Burning dirty energy sources such as coal and oil is a major contributor to rising global temperatures. Unless we can curtail the heat-trapping pollution from these energy sources, sea levels will continue to rise.
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For sure 💯 One side effect of these higher temperatures is more powerful extreme weather events. While natural disasters have always been a part of life on Earth, scientists agree that human-driven climate change supercharges these weather events, making them even more dangerous to communities.
What's being done about rising sea levels?
Two of the best ways to combat sea-level rise are to understand the problem and to reduce reliance on dirty energy sources.
Direct solutions can also serve as temporary fixes. According to Le Monde, Senegal has put forth financial and infrastructural efforts to protect the historic city. For example, they created a breach in the Langue de Barbarie sandbar to give the Senegal River a shorter path to the ocean.
In Saint-Louis, residents must bear the brunt of climate change.
"God has pushed the sea up to our houses," Saint-Louis resident Mamadou Thiam told NPR. "Climate change destroyed many homes."
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