Even faster than Miami, the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana is losing the battle against rising seas. Home to the Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, the isle is being inundated by saltwater and experiencing flooding and for the last several decades, severe coastal erosion. Many of the dozens of residents, what some consider “climate refugees,” have resisted efforts to relocate the community.
Their culture and history are rooted in the land and the surrounding ecosystem. As Rosina Philippe, an elder of the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe, is quoted in a story by the Natural Resources Defense Council:
With the challenges of relocating less than 100 people, it is hard to image how in the future millions of people around the world who are at risk will relocate with rising seas. While climate change certainly amplified the situation, the literal loss of their land was also caused by years of human manipulation of the wetlands of Louisiana. Fears of the loss of culture along with the loss of their land also resonate with some coastal communities in Alaska.