Lucien Yemcama has seen his neighbourhood being eaten away by the sea. Now retired, he grew up in the Poirier district of Capesterre-Belle-Eau, in the French territory of Guadeloupe.
With climate change, the erosion, partly natural, is greatly accentuated by cyclones, the death of coral reefs and seagrass beds, the installation of dykes that modify the current, the removal of sargassum with mechanical shovels, and the rise in sea level.
Lucien’s house is still standing, between the road and the coast, facing the sea, but his mother’s house did not withstand the erosion. If no action is taken to mitigate climate change, it is predicted that more than 5,100 homes and 1,812 commercial buildings will be affected.
@streetpress is a Sphera Network member and this story is part of our “Environment” series.
