Climate Refugees: Meet the population forced to leave their homes due to global warming
Populations forced to leave their homes and the place where they live due to global warming are climate refugees. A reality that is becoming more and more dramatic in the age of extremes the planet is facing. Correspondents Candice Carvalho and Lariza Relvas traveled to Louisiana in the United States, where land inhabited by a community for decades has been taken over by water.
John Bourg has lived on the waterways of Louisiana for 56 years. As a fisherman, he saw the changes.
“Yes, there was a road here. This bay was not open. It was all dirt, even on the left side. Solid ground,” explains John.
As the water level rose, many islands disappeared. Natural barriers between the sea and the continent exposed communities to the largest gulf in the world. The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico are like an incubator for hurricanes.
Bren Haase, director of the Louisiana Coastal Recovery Center, explains the situation in the region. “Our coastline is sinking due to chronic erosion. We are suffering the effects of climate change with stronger and more frequent storms. For example, in 2021, Hurricane Ida swallowed 274 km² of our coastline.”
98% of Jean Charles Island's terrain is now underwater. Only 2% of the original territory remained. In 2022, Chris Brunet had to leave the house where he was born. “The house was built in 1961 just 30cm above the ground. “In 2003 we had to raise the house to its current height,” he says.
Resettlement of residents
Traces of neglect can be seen everywhere. Of the 400 residents, three families still live there. The once 90 km² island is now only one kilometer and 300 meters long. So small that you can get from one end to the other in 3 minutes by car.
Bren explains that manmade changes have also contributed to the current scenario. The Great Flood of 1927 was one of the country's greatest natural disasters. The Mississippi, the largest river in the United States, burst its banks, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving nearly a million homeless.
“To ensure that something like this never happens again, the construction of containment dikes on the Mississippi was approved. However, one of the consequences was that the dikes eventually isolated the river. And in the spring, water that had easily overflowed, carrying sediment that helped support soil along Louisiana's coast, became trapped in the river. The lack of sediment since the 1950s has led to alarming soil loss,” says Bren.
Additionally, canals opened for oil exploration have brought even more water closer to coastal communities.
Kelvin Hill is director of the State of Louisiana Housing Program and his team is working directly on the relocation plan for residents of Jean Charles Island. The budget was $48 million, the American government's first project for climate refugees.
“We had to gain the trust of the community. They were afraid of losing their history, their heritage and the things that had traditionally been important to them,” says Kevin.
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