Coastal community prepares for the worst as major threat approaches homes: 'No hope that this situation will be reversed'

Global warming is the most significant factor contributing to rising sea levels around the world, which has led to erosion that is incredibly concerning within coastal communities like those in Brazil.

What's happening?

As explained by Reuters earlier this month, ongoing warming of the Atlantic Ocean combined with the siltation of the Paraíba River has caused the erosion of the coast of Atafona, located north of Rio de Janeiro, leading to devastating results that include the destruction of 500 homes and the collapse of a four-story building near the beach.

Reuters described Atafona as "one of countless beachside communities losing their battles to the ocean up and down Brazil's 8,500 km of Atlantic coastline." In the United Nations report "Surging Seas in a Warming World" released at the end of August, it was revealed that the sea level in the region around Atafona has risen 5 inches over the last 30 years and is expected to increase another 6.3 inches by 2050.

Eduardo Bulhoes, a marine geographer from Fluminense Federal University, warned that coastal communities could experience inland ocean advancement of up to 150 meters (492 feet) within the next 28 years.

"The combination of climate change and global warming ... with a river that no longer carries sand to the beaches of Atafona, has caused a catastrophe for its residents, and there is no hope that this situation will be reversed," Bulhoes told Reuters.

Why is this important?

Coastal erosion is one of the most concerning aspects of the ongoing climate crisis because it can affect shorelines around the world, with beaches shrinking under rising water levels. In addition to the environmental impact, it also threatens infrastructure and local economies that depend on tourism and coastal activities.

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For example, Reuters pointed out that other regions in Brazil are facing the same dangers as Atafona. The beach in Ponta Negra, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, has shrunk immensely over the last two decades with 15 meters (49 feet) of land being lost to the sea.

Amid a severe drought in the region of the Amazon River, salt water from the ocean advanced upstream, threatening an already fragile ecosystem. Reuters noted that, in 2023, salt water traveled as far as 95 miles upriver from the mouth of the Amazon to the city of Macapa, killing freshwater fish and impacting local fishing communities.

"Salt water comes further up the river and this will change the whole biodiversity of that area," oceanographer Ronaldo Christofoletti said at the Federal University of São Paulo, per Reuters.

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What's being done about this?

Reuters noted that the local government is making an effort to recover the beach in Ponta Negra by bringing in sand from elsewhere, though the method was described as "expensive."

Unfortunately, there aren't many other options for residents in Brazil to combat the impending dangers caused by coastal erosion, as Christofoletti pointed out that city planning should have been prepared to adapt to the changing climate years ago.

"It is shocking to see houses being destroyed in Atafona. But you were not supposed to build houses there. You should have woods, a mangrove swamp, a sandbank, ecosystems that would naturally be prepared to hold the sea," Christofoletti said, per Reuters.