Rising seas in southern Caribbean offer dark preview of future amid climate change

In this April 22, 2013 photo, fisherman Desmond Augustin stands on a breakwater of old tires and driftwood that local residents fashioned to try and protect their fishing village in Telegraph, Grenada. The people along this vulnerable stretch of eastern Grenada have been watching the sea eat away at their shoreline in recent decades, a result of destructive practices such as sand mining and a ferocious storm surge made worse by climate change, according to researchers with the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy, who have helped locals map the extent of coastal erosion. (AP Photo/David McFadden) (The Associated Press)

In this April 22, 2013 photo, a model showing the impact of coastal erosion on eastern communities in Grenada is on display at a community center in Grenville, Grenada. The people along this vulnerable stretch of eastern Grenada have been watching the sea eat away at their shoreline in recent decades, a result of destructive practices such as sand mining and a ferocious storm surge made worse by climate change, according to researchers with the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy, who have helped locals map the extent of coastal erosion. (AP Photo/David McFadden) (The Associated Press)

In this April 22, 2013 photo, the stump of an unrooted palm tree sits on the shore of the fishing village in Telegraph, Grenada. The people along this vulnerable stretch of eastern Grenada have been watching the sea eat away at their shoreline in recent decades, a result of destructive practices such as sand mining and a ferocious storm surge made worse by climate change, according to researchers with the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy, who have helped locals map the extent of coastal erosion. (AP Photo/David McFadden) (The Associated Press)

Rising sea levels are threatening tens of thousands of people living near the coastline in the Caribbean, especially in southern island of Grenada.

The old coastal road in the fishing village of Telescope sits under a couple of feet of murky saltwater, which regularly surges past a hastily-erected breakwater of truck tires and bundles of driftwood intended to hold back the Atlantic Ocean.

People here say they have been watching the sea eat away at their shoreline in recent decades, a result of destructive practices such as a practice known as sand mining and ferocious storm surges that researchers say have been made worse by climate change. Scientists and government officials worry that this swath of Grenada could preview what's to come for many other areas in the Caribbean.