VOA常速英语:West African Coastal Towns Swallowed by Ocean(翻译)

The days of Grand-Lahou’s old town are numbered. The sea has been swallowing over one meter of the town’s coastline every year.

Eugene Koffi has spent his entire life on this shrinking patch of land between sea and lagoon, called Lahou-Kpanda.

“The sea used to be back there, two kilometers away, two kilometers away. Today, you see that it’s right here. There used to be people living here. There used to be coconut trees.”

Coastal erosion is a natural phenomenon, but experts say human activity has accelerated it. And with global warming, sea levels are rising around the world. Here in Grand-Lahou, nearby government dams, as well as the local practice of taking sand to build houses, have also hurt the coastline.

Many colonial buildings have already been washed away. The water now regularly reaches the church, the cemetery and the remaining houses.

“When the lagoon overflows, all this here is underwater, even that my house is flooded.”

Many houses have been abandoned along the coast, and residents have moved inland to what it’s known as New Grand-Lahou.

A few thousand fishermen soldier on here, but making a living has become harder.

“The river mouth is stuck in the sand. We can’t cross with the boat.”

The Biodiversity is also affected.

“In the lagoon, there were mangroves which grow in saline water. So when the river mouth is closed, the lagoon basically becomes fresh water and the mangroves die off. But mangroves are key for biodiversity. If they die, it’s basically the end of the fishery.”

The fishermen say the government could help by removing the sand from the river mouth, but experts say the rising sea level is irreversible and the population ultimately will be pushed inland.

It’s a problem along much of West Africa’s coast, and the consequences could be serious. One-third of the region’s people live by the sea, and coastal zones contribute to about half of the regional GDP.

Emilie Iob for VOA NEWS in Grand-Lahou.