International reporting
Brazil: Atafona, a seaside town engulfed by rising waters
Audio 02:32
Paulo shows his house, part of which is destroyed by water.
He had lived in this house for 34 years with his wife Vitoria.
They had to leave their home in November 2021. © RFI/Sarah Cozzolino
By: Sarah Cozzolino Follow
4 mins
In the north of the state of Rio de Janeiro, the seaside town of Atafona is threatened with disappearance under the rising waters.
Here, coastal erosion started 60 years ago, but is getting worse very quickly due to global warming and human activity.
Atafona is now part of the 4% of the world's coastline whose water rise exceeds 5 meters per year.
Its inhabitants are forced to leave their homes, swallowed by the sea.
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A piece of wall at the bottom of the garden, and a small pile of debris.
This is all that remains of the house in Vitória.
When she and her husband decided to buy it 34 years ago, they were far from imagining that it would disappear under water.
“
We couldn't even see the sea, it was very far away!
And today the sea is in my house.
Now part of my house is under water.
»
They made the decision to leave the premises in November, when a first wall began to deteriorate.
Four months later, the entire house was swallowed up.
“
At night, the sound of the waves is deafening, it's very loud… We have the impression that we are going to be sucked in, that the whole house is going to fall on us.
»
In 1974, Vitoria had already lost her mother's house.
Since then, the public authorities have not taken any preventive measures against the erosion which is accelerating from year to year, reaching up to 7 meters per year.
Paulo, her husband, has lost hope.
“
We are hurt by what is happening.
This morning I went to see the ruins and… We are upset to see that nothing is happening, no one is doing anything.
But I don't think things will change.
»
The couple now lives with Paulo's father, three houses away from theirs.
In the living room, a framed photo reminds them of their childhood village. “
This photo is taken from above, you can see the mouth of the river there.
It was taken about fifty years ago.
We are here and everything you see here is already gone.
»
“
Look at the amount of houses, look!
exclaims Vitoria.
In Atafona, more than 500 houses are now buried under the sand.
A phenomenon due to several factors.
Global warming, of course, but also the loss of flow of the Paraiba River, two-thirds of which are captured, further south, by the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to supply metropolitan areas with water and electricity.
"
We are faced with three proposals: build a dike, install sandbags horizontally, or even artificially fill in the beach, thanks to a barrier of rocks,
details Marcela Toledo, in charge of the environment at the town hall of Atafona
.
These three proposals have been sent to the environmental institute, INEA, which must assess the effectiveness of these projects.
»
Projects still far from seeing the light of day when erosion in Atafona has already caused nearly 2,000 climate refugees since the 1960s.
Brazil: Atafona, seaside resort in the state of Rio devoured by rising waters
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Brazil
Environment
Climate
Climate change