in pictures

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JACOB KUSHNER / CONTRIBUTOR

1 SHIPMENT A man loads a bag of charcoal onto a boat bound for a market near Port-au-Prince, . Mystery of Haiti’s Azuéi grew so significantly that it breached the Dominican bor- the rising der, making it easier to illegally ferry Dominican charcoal to Haiti. – On the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, home to the sovereign nations of the and Haiti, two large lakes are rising dramatically. 3 Lake Azuéi in Haiti submerged

an entire community; across the 3 NEW BEGINNING When Lake Enriquil- border in the Dominican Republic, 4 lo swallowed the land where he grew Lake has risen nearly 33 vegetables near the Dominican town of feet in just 10 years. As their land Duvergé, Demetrio, who asked to not use his last name, says the only way to earn a flooded, many farmers began cut- living was to cut down trees to produce ting down trees to make charcoal to charcoal to sell to Haiti. He left the charcoal earn a living, leading to deforesta- business only recently, after he was hired at an agricultural cooperative. tion. Scientists from across the globe 4 WATERY RUINS The rooflines of a few have tried to solve the mystery houses are all that remain of the Haitian 1 village of Letant. All of the 83 families living behind the rising lakes. Some think here were displaced to higher ground climate change is to blame, when Lake Azuéi flooded their homes. arguing that warming seas created more evaporationCuba ATLANTIC OCEAN 2 5 and clouds, which led to more rainfall. But if true, that would be strange, because 0 20 40 km HAITI in most of the world climate 0 20 40 mi DOMINICAN change is causing lakes to REPUBLIC shrink. Lake Azuéi The phenomenon is spur-

ring calls for more research Port-au-Prince to help explain – and mit- igate – the situation. Until scientists are able to identify Lake Enriquillo Caribbean Sea the cause and work toward a solution, thousands of farm- RICH CLABAUGH/STAFF ers on this Caribbean island will have to adapt. Pub Date: *WEEKLY* 04/11/162 NET EFFECTSlug: PPICSlakes_g1_112401.ai Fishermen near Lake 5 FERAL LAND Pigs scavenge amid the rubble of the village of Boca de ©2016 The Christian Science MonitorAzuéi (www.csmonitor.com) repair their nets. When the lake. All rights reserved. Cachón, at the western edge of Lake Enriquillo. Residents were relocated by r This reporting was supported by the rose, many Haitians began to fish, which the Dominican government as the lake encroached upon the town. Domini- Pulitzer CenterDistributed on Crisis by ReportingThe Christian. Science Monitor News Service (email: [email protected]) quickly led to overfishing. can engineers destroyed their houses so that they wouldn’t move back. RICH CLABAUGH/STAFF ILLUSTRATOR.ai HAITI 24 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WEEKLY | APRIL 11, 2016 Haiti THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WEEKLY | APRIL 11, 2016 25 International Boundary Parish Boundary National Capital Parish Capital Road

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