Environment
Climate Change Is Already Battering This West African City
Home to nearly 300,000 people, Saint-Louis, Senegal, is seeing houses destroyed, streets flooded, and crops killed by encroaching saltwater.
Saer Diop has always known the sea to be treacherous. At the age of 13, during his first year working as a fisherman, Diop’s uncle and big brother were among five killed after their wooden pirogue boat was capsized by a vicious storm.
But in recent times, Diop, now 34, hasn’t even been safe on dry land. “One night I was asleep in bed, and a huge wave came crashing through my window,” Diop recounted, the shock of the event that happened in 2017 still reflected in his eyes.