Rising Seas Are Swallowing This North American Island | National Geographic

We're having constant washouts. We're having constant basements flooded because of the water rise. Our roads are being threatened because of erosion. And they say there's no climate change.

When I first came to live here, we had the children out playing baseball in the front yard. They can't do that anymore; that land is gone. We're losing, constantly losing at least three feet a year, and that's the end result.

Well, Lenox Island, one of the Aboriginal communities in Canada, is a very dynamic community. There are very important issues that they're facing to do with climate change. One is increasing sea level that increases the rate of erosion along the coast. They're facing that erosion aspect that's made even worse by sea level rise and also by the increasing rate of storm surges.

I've lived here basically all my life. I've seen a lot of changes growing up. I'm 36 now, and looking back, I was about eight or nine when all these areas were a lot bigger. Over by our church, there used to be a field where we used to play tackle football. That field was further out towards the bay, a good 25-30 feet further out when I was growing up. Since then, it's pretty eroded now, and they actually put stone up and then covered over.

Now it's little things that you wouldn't notice right off the hop, but then you start looking at it like, "Yeah, we are little Lenox Island is getting literally smaller." Well, actually, we, you know, every chance I get, it's, you know, trying to befriend or retrieve some of what I've lost over the years by just putting some, well, whether it be just some rock and or gravel indoor or just cement slabs, kind of things.

So I know at the end of the day we end up losing, but I think it's Mother Nature. But before you know it, right up to the house at this rate anyway, if it keeps going at this rate, I can't imagine being here in the next 30 years. They have no move to house.

Well, we've done some coastal vulnerability studies of Lenox Island. We see what they have at risk there. They have their causeway bridge, which connects them to the mainland. PEI, which is the approach roads - that are very low; some of them are just over a meter above sea level.

There's also their sewage treatment system. There have been storm surges that have actually touched the sides of the lagoon already. There's also their powwow or sacred grounds where they've had some flooding as well.

We first discovered three archaeological sites in Hog Island. The sites that have been identified on the island show the mobility of Aboriginal people, with artifacts and materials coming from places as far as northern Labrador, Cape Breton, and the Bay of Fundy. It was clear that all of the sites have been subject to erosion and quite heavy weathering.

It's not good; it's not good. When talking to some of the elders, they're a bit fearful because this was their home, and their home is slowly being eroded away. It's a big fear, but it'll always be home. There won't be much of the home left, but nevertheless, it'll always be home.