Residents despair as city could become underwater ghost town: 'Devastated our lives'
A city in West Africa is becoming dangerously close to turning into an underwater ghost town as current sea levels continue to rise.
What's happening?
While climate change has existed on a smaller scale for millennia, humankind's direct impact has been pinpointed to the rise of industrialism in the 1800s, as NASA explained. Since then, worldwide temperatures have been increasing at an unnaturally rapid rate.
As a result of climate change, sea levels around the globe have begun to rise to dangerously high levels. Because of this, the future of cities like Banjul, The Gambia, have been put in serious jeopardy.
And the effects have already been felt around the African city. Thanks to a torrential storm in July 2022 that inundated the city with tremendous amounts of rain, over 50,000 people were directly impacted by flash floods, as The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported. More than 10 inches of rain fell in just 20 hours, per Reuters.
Why are rising sea levels in Banjul important?
According to James F.P Gomez, The Gambia's minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, if the sea levels rise by just one meter, Greater Banjul will likely be completely underwater.
Although Banjul has always been a historically low-lying city, the effects of climate change and commercial sand mining have weakened the city's natural barrier against the sea. Many Banjul residents have reached their breaking point.
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Aminata Jatta, a 60-year-old gardener from Banjul, has seen the city's agricultural industry diminish. "The sand mining has devastated our lives," Jatta told Dialogue Earth. "I depend on this [work] for survival, but that survival is being destroyed, and nothing is being done about it."
What's being done about The Gambia's capital city?
Thanks to the impacts of climate change and diminished employment opportunities, many Banjul residents have already left their hometown. Since boasting a population of around 45,000 people in 1983, the city has continued to shed residents. As of 2024, Banjul is estimated to be home to just 26,000 people.
To make matters worse, more residents have their eye on the door as well. According to a study conducted by Nfamara K. Dampha, a Gambian research scientist at the University of Minnesota, 64% of the current population intend to leave the city by 2050.
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There is still hope for Banjul. In November 2024, The Gambia received $12 million from the Global Environment Facility for the Climate-Resilient Banjul project, which hopes to "facilitate landscape-level transformative change."
Additionally, the EU-funded City-link Ostend Banjul project has been planting thousands of coconut trees and vegetation along the coastline, The Standard reported. By turning to sustainable resources and replenishing Banjul's natural barrier to the sea, the city will have a better chance at combating the rising sea levels.
Banjul isn't the only city experiencing the effects of climate change. Properties in British Columbia, Canada, are also at risk of being underwater in the near future.
By reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, we can help turn the tide in the battle against climate change. Adopting cleaner and renewable energy sources could be an effective first step that anyone could do.
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Residents despair as city could become underwater ghost town: 'Devastated our lives' first appeared on The Cool Down.
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