Drone footage of damage caused by extreme weather in Switzerland, Mongolia, Germany, USA, and Senegal<\/a>Drone footage of the damage caused by extreme weather in Switzerland, Mongolia, Germany, the USA and Senegal<\/p>\nIt\u2019s undeniable that it is easier to withstand disaster in a wealthy country \u2013 and yet those disasters get the bulk of our attention. When we talk about climate displacement in developing countries, it is often in fearful tones about mass migration to the west, even though most displacement happens within national borders and takes people only as far as they need to survive. \u201cWe hear so much about illegal migration,\u201d Braschler says. \u201cBut we\u2019re still talking about humans. Desperate people who have no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur greatest wish as fishers,\u201d says Khadim Wade from Senegal, \u201cis to wake up by the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dina Nayeri is the author of Who Gets Believed? and The Ungrateful Refugee<\/p>\n
Senegal<\/strong><\/p>\nEach year, the ocean inches up the shore of Saint-Louis, the country\u2019s former capital, and more of it disappears beneath the waves, forcing families to relocate.<\/p>\n
Doudou Sy (pictured main image) and Khadim Wade, fishers. They lost their home and now live in the Diougop relocation camp, 10km outside Saint-Louis; they have to<\/strong> commute to their boats<\/strong> in Guet N\u2019Dar<\/strong><\/p>\nDoudou: \u201cOur house was the ancestral family home. We were born here and only knew this place. This painful ordeal forced us to leave our land.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khadim: \u201cNot to live by the sea is truly sad. Our greatest wish is to wake up by the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mass\u00e8ne Mbaye (on left) and Penda Dieye, with their twins Assane and Ousseynou. They moved in with relatives after the sea took their home on the beach of Guet N\u2019Dar<\/strong><\/p>\nMass\u00e8ne: \u201cEvery year that passes, the sea digs deeper into the shore. I know we carry some responsibility; we haven\u2019t taken care of nature. Instead of keeping our surroundings clean, we keep adding more pollution. We throw away waste that can harm or kill animals. We\u2019re causing damage to both nature and wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
N\u2019Deye Khoudia Ka, fishmonger. Moved to the Diougop camp after losing her home to coastal erosion<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cDuring times of sea rise, it was very stressful. You couldn\u2019t sleep because you didn\u2019t know if the waves would come at night. The day we left, the focus was on how to survive and make the children leave the house as the walls fell. The destruction was total. The only positive outcome is it saved us as a family, going to a new, dry place where I won\u2019t be stressed about when the next wave will come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iraq<\/strong><\/p>\nConflict, climate change and weak governance make Iraq the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change in the world, according to the UN, with its southern marshlands (above) particularly badly affected.<\/p>\n
Abbas Gurain Hubaish Alammary, water-buffalo farmer, and his daughter, Fatima. Drought forced them to move from the Sinaf marshes to a nearby settlement<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThe water has turned salty and the marshes are dry. In the past, there was fishing, there was life, but all that is gone. When I go back, I remember how sweet life used to be. When I see what it has become, I feel like I\u2019m dying. What can we do? This is life \u2013 today you\u2019re in one place, and tomorrow you\u2019re forced to be somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mongolia<\/strong><\/p>\nOver 70 years, the country\u2019s temperatures have risen by 2.1C, which is about double the global average. Extreme cold events have caused many herders to abandon their nomadic lifestyles.<\/p>\n
Anartsetseg Erdenebileg, student. Relocated to the town of Baruun-Urt in S\u00fckhbaatar province<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cLiving here in the provincial centre is very different from life in the countryside. The air is polluted, and I feel like we get sick more often because of it. I miss the fresh, clean air of the countryside \u2013 it felt healthier, and I could breathe freely. That\u2019s the kind of life I want again, out in the open, where the air is pure and the land is wide. That\u2019s where I truly feel well. Even after everything, I still dream of being a herder. I want to return to that life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yanjmaa Baljmaa (left) and Nerguibaatar Batmandakh. The former herders now work as a nurse and a security guard<\/strong> <\/strong>in<\/strong> <\/strong>Baruun-Urt<\/strong><\/p>\nNerguibaatar: \u201cWe had two herds of horses, 200 sheep and goats, and 10 cattle. It was bad everywhere in the winter of 2023. We sent our horses to the east and tried to save our cattle and small animals throughout the winter, but to no avail. We battled snow morning till night. The hay and fodder we reserved were not enough; every morning, there would be a dozen animals dead, another dozen in the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yanjmaa: \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop crying when I saw them dead. It was devastating to see the animals I had taken care of perish like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany<\/strong><\/p>\nIn 2021, severe flooding in the Ahr valley (above), west of Bonn, killed 134 people and injured 766; at least 17,000 suffered the loss of, or damage to, their homes.<\/p>\n
Walter Krahe, lecturer. His house was next to the Ahr River<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIf we don\u2019t start taking real action, well, what shall we call it? Decline? Downfall? With every day, with every month, with every year that we wait and don\u2019t take really crystal-clear measures, we slide more towards uncontrollability. Yes, we are afraid of change. But the changes that will happen if we do nothing are much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christian and Sylvia Schauff, retired. Lost their home in the town of Erftstadt<\/strong><\/p>\nChristian: \u201cI didn\u2019t grasp what was happening until we were outside, trying to swim for safety. Furniture, garden tables, even a car rushed past us, swallowed by the water. I honestly believed we wouldn\u2019t make it out alive. If it hadn\u2019t been for the strangers who reached out, we never could have survived. And just like that, it was over \u2013 for now. \u201d<\/p>\n
Sylvia: \u201cWe just drift from one day to the next. I am now fully retired because I can no longer work. I barely sleep. And all of this, for me, is tied to the loss of my home. I feel uprooted \u2013 torn out of the ground that once held me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenya<\/strong><\/p>\nDrought has become a major threat to the Turkana people in the north of the country (above), while floods are increasing in severity in the Tana River area of the south.<\/p>\n
Lokolong (left) and Tarkot Lokwamor, former pastoralists now farmers, with their children Ewesit, Arot, Apua and Akai. Relocated to a refugee camp in Kakuma, Turkana<\/strong><\/p>\nTarkot: \u201cThe worst thing is that the weather changed. There is no more rain. Every year now is the same \u2013 drought, drought, drought. This has really hurt us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nakwani Etirae, pastoralist turned farmer, pastor and shop owner. Relocated to the Kakuma refugee camp<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI used to have a lot of animals \u2013 more than 600 goats, 27 donkeys, cows and camels. I lost them all in the drought. We were depending on those animals, for milk, meat and a lot of other products. Finally, we had to move here, close to the refugee camp in Kakuma. Now, I only have 17 goats and some chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maryam Atiye Jafar, pregnant with her first child. Relocated to Mtapani camp, Tana<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s very challenging to give birth in this environment, because the tent is too small and the huts are constructed with tarpaulins. It\u2019s very hot. I am thinking of how I\u2019m going to bring up my child in this heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
USA<\/strong><\/p>\nCameron, in southern Louisiana (above), nestled in the Gulf of Mexico, has been devastated by a series of hurricanes, most recently Laura and Delta in 2020. Some residents have rebuilt four times, but most have left. Fewer than 200 people remain in what was once a bustling community with almost 2,000 residents.<\/p>\n
Alaysha LaSalle, student. Her family home in Cameron was destroyed; they now live in Lake Charles, a city 40km<\/strong> away<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cAll I remember is whenever we looked outside, we just saw a lot of things flying. I was scared. I waited until the hurricane was over and went outside, and it was damaged, like really badly. All we\u2019ve seen were our poles that our house was standing up on, and that was all that was left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guatemala<\/strong><\/p>\nThe country is in the Dry Corridor, an area in Central America marred by failed harvests due to unpredictable rain patterns responsible for drought and flooding. In recent years, the effects of climate change have further fuelled migration. Guatemala ranks ninth in the world for level of risk to the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n
Maria Gonzalez Diaz, housewife, with daughters Maria Eulalia and Adelaida, who fled their village to the city of Nebaj after a mountain landslide<\/strong><\/p>\nMaria GD: \u201cWhen it was time to harvest, it started to rain a lot and then it all dried up because of the hot sun, and that was it, we didn\u2019t have any more crops. I came here to Nebaj because there was no food in my village. Here at least my children can eat. Maybe it\u2019s not meat, but at least they have tortillas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruben Sanchez Perez, farmer and father of seven. He lives in a village in the province of Huehuetenango<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cMy sons Wilmer and Amilcar left for the US \u2013 there was no other way to survive. There was no work, no money, nothing. They walked through the desert, risking their lives, but thank God, they made it. They send a little help. Others weren\u2019t so lucky. Some came back with nothing but debt and pain. It\u2019s scary. But here, the land no longer gives \u2013 and as Indigenous people, we live from the land. Without rain, we have nothing. That\u2019s why my sons had to leave. Staying meant losing everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ileana Cha Lopez, housewife, with Amaoilis and Kimberly, who fled to Qotoxha, Panz\u00f3s after flooding<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYear after year the floods were getting worse. What we planted was dying. We made the decision to look for something better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil<\/strong><\/p>\nIn 2024, torrential rains triggered catastrophic floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, destroying places such as the Ilha da Pintada (above) and displacing approximately 580,000 people. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Brazilian history.<\/p>\n
Pedro Luiz de Souza, a general services worker, and his daughter, Luizza, lost their home on the Ilha dos Marinheiros to flooding. They are now living in a humanitarian reception centre in Porto Alegre<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure how I\u2019m going to tell my daughter our place doesn\u2019t exist any more. She still thinks she can go back and pick up that doll or that drawing she liked. But there is no more home. So I\u2019ll keep fighting for her. She is everything I still have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britney Louise Lima, singer and cook, lost her home in catastrophic floods at the end of April 2024 in Porto Alegre and also now lives in the humanitarian reception centre<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI often think about the future, and the first image that comes to mind is a massive iceberg melting, with all of us sinking into the waters. In the future, Brazil\u2019s coastline will disappear \u2013 the first state to go will be Rio Grande do Sul. I plan to head north and hopefully secure a place where I can be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bangladesh<\/strong><\/p>\nClimate change is driving sea-level rise, flooding, stronger cyclones and erratic weather, threatening agriculture and displacing communities, especially in coastal areas. In the Khulna district in the south, vulnerable populations are being forced from rural, coastal areas to urban slums, such as Notun Bazar (above).<\/p>\n
Firoza and Nasima Begum, mother and daughter in law, are fishers displaced three times. They now live in Nalian, Khulna<\/strong><\/p>\nNasima: \u201cI feel emotionally drained from having to move so many times. Each time we\u2019re hit by a flood or storm, we have to rebuild. I often need to borrow money just to fix our house, and it\u2019s humiliating. I used to raise goats, chickens, even a cow \u2013 they were like family. I lost them all to the floods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdur Rashid Gazi, labourer who is building higher ground for his house in Nalian to avoid future flooding<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cBefore, the water wasn\u2019t this high. Now, the river keeps rising and the land feels like it\u2019s sinking beneath our feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fatema Begum, widow. Displaced and now living in Notun Bazar<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cWhen I think about the home I lost, I cry. It wasn\u2019t much, but it was mine. It breaks your heart when the life you built gets destroyed. We now live in a rented room in a slum \u2013 one small room for all of us. The rent is 2000 taka (\u00a312.50). The landlord is always threatening to evict us because we often can\u2019t pay the rent on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Switzerland<\/strong><\/p>\nIn August 2024, an extreme precipitation event took place in Brienz (above). In less than an hour, approximately 100mm of rain inundated the area, devastating homes and businesses, and severely damaging or destroying infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Bruno L\u00f6tscher, vet, who lost his house in Brienz, pictured with his donkey Lola<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYesterday, we were in Berne. The people there walk around like normal, while over here it looks like a bombed-out street in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philippines<\/strong><\/p>\nThe archipelagic country is prone to extreme climate events. In October 2024, typhoon Kristine made landfall on the main island of Luzon, triggering flooding and landslides; Bicol (above) was one of the worst affected regions.<\/p>\n
Ailyn Reolo Fermano, housewife and mother of six, is living in the Libon evacuation centre, Albay, Bicol<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIt was not a usual typhoon, it rained much harder and longer. We couldn\u2019t imagine how much it would affect us, what it would cost us, that we would lose everything we had built up over years and years. I feel so sad because practically all we had is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joan Resuena with her children<\/strong> Crystal Faye, Avie James and Mark<\/strong>. They are now living in the Libon evacuation centre<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cHere in the Philippines, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any place that\u2019s truly safe. In some regions, like this one, we face typhoons that can cause landslides, and many other places are prone to flooding. It feels like no matter where you go, there\u2019s always some kind of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2009, Swiss photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer set out to document the people suffering the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-601540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115633693838600950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}