Rising tides threaten to swallow a Mexican town

Rising sea levels threaten to engulf El Bosque, a small fishing town in southern Mexico, where at least 40 homes have already been destroyed as the shoreline erodes.

The coastal community of just over 100 people has experienced more frequent and violent storms as a result of the changing climate. Between 200 and 500 meters of the coast has already disappeared since 2007, reports El Pais.

Dozens of families have been displaced, as at least 40 houses and the town’s main school have been destroyed, authorities said.

Coastal towns and cities across the world are facing similarly dire threats to rising tides, especially as typhoons, cyclones, and hurricanes become bigger and more frequent as a result of the climate crisis.

In a high-emissions scenario, rising sea levels could displace more than 600 million people worldwide — most of them in developing countries.

“We could be the first,” a resident of El Bosque said, “but we won’t be the last.”