SEA LEVEL RISE IN GUYANA

Location:

Georgetown is located on the coast and is the capital city of Guyana. Guyana is on the northern coast of South America and borders Venezuela, Surinam and Brazil.

Background information:

Sea level rise is a particularly large threat to the coastline of Guyana as much of the coastal strip is already below sea level. Some areas are up to 2.4m below current sea level, so any further rise could be disastrous. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the vast majority of the country live on this narrow belt of alluvial soil, which is protected by a series of dams and dykes. These defences were originally built by Dutch colonisers between 1860-1882. The rest of the country is dense forest. Agriculture is a vital industry and accounts for over a third of national employment. Sugar and rice are the main export crops and are almost exclusively grown in the coastal area. Maintaining the sea defences is extremely expensive with some sources indicating that Guyana spends over $1billion every year on maintenance.

Main issues and themes:

Through the video students are introduced to the dangers of sea level rise and flooding in Georgetown, Guyana. Key issues include:

  • Sea level rise and the causes
  • The effect of sea level rise in LEDCs
  • Flooding (both from sea-level rise and changes to precipitation patterns)
  • The vulnerability of people to environmental change in different places
  • Sea defences – hard engineering or managed retreat
  • Over population in and over reliance on coastal areas

Possible enquiry questions:

There are many different directions to take a lesson that makes use of this video. Some questions to get students thinking critically after the video may include:

  • Why is the sea level rising and causing flooding in Georgetown, Guyana?
  • Why do so many people live on the coast when it is prone to flooding?
  • Is sea level rise the only climate change related impact affecting Georgetown? (Changing precipitation patterns are also causing river flooding).
  • Is Guyana losing its battle against the sea?
  • If you lived in Guyana would you want the president to spend increasing amounts of money on sea defences or start to relocate your capital city inland?

Starter activities

The following starters may help get students engaged on a particular issue addressed in the video.

  • Using Atlantic Rising photograph [see website links] to create a picture reveal and ask the students what they think the lesson topic will be and what the picture tells them about the place in question.
  • Use Google earth to give students a tour of Georgetown and the nearby coast getting them to identify human and physical features.

Suggestions for main lesson activities:

The video throws up a number of different issues and could be incorporated into a variety of main lesson activities. Here are just a few examples:

  • Consider how sea level rise will affect people differently depending on their vulnerability and capacity to adapt. Compare and contrast Georgetown with a coastal region in an MEDC.
  • Elect a President. Have different groups of students have to argue for different solutions. One group must argue for sea defences, one must argue for improvements to the pumping system and the final group must argue for relocation inlands. The President decides.
  • How could sea level rise affect the coast of Britain (could use a specific case study) and how does this differ to the problems faced in Georgetown?

Relevant additional resources:

Sea level rise interactive map:

Sea level change diagram pack: [see website link]

Using Google Earth to model sea level rise:

Other related Atlantic Rising resources:

Atlantic Rising itself has a number of additional resources from the expedition that are related to and could help support lessons connected to sea level rise and this video. These include:

  • Guyana case study:
  • Gambia’s drowning slave fort: Audio - and case study
  • Seal level rise in the Orinoco delta -