Houses
on the shores of Liberia are collapsing at the edge of the sea due to
coastal erosion arising from climate-related sea level rise and other
factors.
Government records show that in the area of Buchanan,
for example, about 250 people lost their homes in recent years, with
the last several years seeing a loss of a full 10 meters from the area’s
coastal beaches.
In other populated coastal areas, the Liberian
Environment Agency measured at least three meters of land being lost
annually, with 50 meters of shore having disappeared since 2005 from one
town alone.
Some families, unable to afford new dwellings, are
still living in the portion of their home that has not been taken over
by the rising tide waters.
Josep Gari, regional environmental
team leader for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said that
the global warming effects have been aggravated by unregulated sand
mining and unsustainable harvesting of mangroves, which act as natural
barriers from storm surges.
The Liberian government has announced a short-term plan to protect infrastructure but lacks resources for significant projects.
Meanwhile,
experts express concern that densely populated communities throughout
the shores of West Africa will soon be showing the similar effects of
coastal erosion.
Our appreciation, Mr. Gari, United Nations
Development Program and Liberia for your voiced concern over these
distressing observations.
May we all move quickly toward
lifestyles in harmony with nature to cool the planet and halt its
demise. During an interview for the September 2009 edition of The House
Magazine, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed global warming effects
including coastal erosion, as well as the moral actions needed in
response.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
It’s too serious. Too serious. Sea level rise, for example, threatens
half of the world's population living within 200 kilometers of a
coastline. Seventeen million in Bangladesh have fled their homes
already, mainly because of coastal erosion.
In the United
Kingdom as well, several coastal flooding disasters have already
occurred with more forecast by the nation’s Department of Environment.
This is due in part to the fact that over 26 million residents in the UK
live in coastal zones, with 40% of Britain’s manufacturing industry
also located on or near the coast.
These situations will only
worsen, not improve, until we stop the cause. This means to halt the
livestock production and meat consumption.
If humans switch to
the vegan diet, the Earth will begin cooling immediately and many of
these dilemmas can even be reversed. So please, be veg and do good, to
save the planet and all the beings on it, including you and me.
http://www.france24.com/en/20100903-atlantic-liberian-homes-destroyed-sea-erosion