The Venice of Africa: the continent's sinking megacities

非洲威尼斯:大陆沉没的巨型城市

Editor's Picks from The Economist

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2024-07-04

7 分钟
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A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. Today, we examine the West African cities that are being swamped because of subsidence and rising oceans. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+  For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
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  • The Economist Hello, this is Alok Jha,

  • host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.

  • Welcome to Editor's Picks.

  • We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.

  • Please do have a listen.

  • It may not look like much anymore,

  • but in its heyday La Chaumière was the premier nightclub in all Saint-Louis,

  • recalls Cheikh Badian.

  • When the tide was low,

  • the long beach extending far into the distance was wide enough for crowds to gather for football matches on the sand.

  • But in recent years, the aging fisherman says, so many catastrophes have happened.

  • La Chaumière is closed.

  • The Quranic school along the waterfront is no more.

  • A few years ago, during a particularly terrible flood,

  • a house next to a mosque collapsed, killing the carpenter who lived there.

  • These days, when the storm surge comes,

  • the waters go all the way to the war memorial, a couple of hundred metres inland.

  • Inch by inch, home by home, Saint-Louis is being washed into the sea.

  • A crowded island city built among waterways, Senegal's former colonial capital,

  • dubbed the Venice of Africa,