A Brazilian town being destroyed by the force of the sea.
Atafona is a coastal town of 6,000 people, 200 miles away from the famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. However, unlike the Copacabana, Atafona isn’t famous for its beautiful beaches. The town has a serious problem, due to rising sea levels and the advancing of the Atlantic Ocean. Every year, the sea advances by nine feet and also rises by as many as 27 feet in some years. About 60 years ago, this process started accelerating and ever since then, the sea has destroyed more than 500 houses.
National Geographic went to Atafona to talk to some of the residents and about the devastating things that happened in the small town. Multiple people that lived there have been ‘running from the waves’ for their whole life’s. One man that currently lives in Atafona mentioned how he already lost three houses to the rising sea. However, he still lives there.
Since the 1970’s researchers have been trying to figure out the reason for the extreme erosion in the small town. While some locals think that the sea is a living being, and the erosions are a punishment for mistakes that they made, scientists think it’s a mix of multiple things. The factors that caused this natural disaster to happen are obviously tied to climate change, but are also influenced by certain regional events.
There is a lot of pressure on researchers and scientists to find a solution for Atafona and one thing is clear, it is going to require a lot of work.
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“A Brazilian town IS being destroyed by the force of the sea.” I’m not sure this is all that unusual, so I can’t say it would catch my attention.
Could you make this work: “One man that currently lives in Atafona mentioned how he already lost three houses to the rising sea. However, he still lives there.”
With broadcast you need to tell the story quickly. Summarize Atafona’s problem quickly, and what it means. Consider how you get in a soundbite from someone here.