If great underwater cities were once just a fisherman’s tale, nowadays the advance of the sea over the continents means that the legends are becoming increasingly real and real tragedies for the families who live in beach towns around the globe.
This time, the caiçara community is at risk because, according to a recent study by the Climate Central seven Brazilian cities could disappear from the map:
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- São Luís do Maranhão;
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- Rio de Janeiro;
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- Porto Alegre;
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- Fortaleza;
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- Salvador;
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- Recife;
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- Santos.
In addition, the study identified risk areas for 100 cities in 39 countries and predicts that around 2 million people could be affected by this imminent tragedy. In other words, it’s a global alert.
Santos could disappear as the sea advances
Imagine going down to the coast hoping to visit the beauties of Santos, such as the Jardim da Orla, the Coffee Museum, Monte Serrat and the Municipal Aquarium and find nothing but the immensity of the sea.
To prevent sea waves from advancing on the urban area, the historic city has installed a barrier of large sandbags to prevent disaster. Nevertheless, experts point out that this action alone is not effective and an action plan for the climate adaptation phase needs to be implemented urgently. According to them, there is no longer any way to prevent the rise in sea levels, since even if carbon emissions are controlled, the atmosphere would continue to warm.
Drag the mouse and see what Santos will look like, according to Climate Central forecasts:
Understand the cause of disasters
As a result of global warming, sea levels are rising rapidly. In other words, the polar ice caps are melting and could wreak havoc, even kilometers away from us. In the last 30 years, the level has risen by 9 cm and forecasts indicate that it will reach 80 cm by 2100.
In São Paulo, USP’s research has shown that sea levels have risen by 20 cm in the last 73 years. By 2025, it could reach 36 cm if carbon emissions continue in the atmosphere. Thus, we can see that we are getting closer and closer to losing part of our continent and history, as in Santos, to the seas.
