Along Latvia’s Baltic coast, the waves are gradually encroaching upon houses, trees, and historical landmarks — and while it’s possible to slow the degradation, the water can’t be stopped. According to geologists from the University of Latvia, the Baltic Sea has eroded an average of 37 acres of Latvian coastline every year for the last decade. The Latvian Environment, Geology, and Meteorology Center predicts that the country’s coastline will shift tens of meters inland by the end of the century. In some parts of the country, the sea’s advance has been a fact of life for millennia. But in the last century, human intervention and climate change have accelerated the process, disrupting local economies, cultural monuments, and natural landscapes — not to mention the lives of residents along the coast. In a special report from Latvia’s western Kurzeme region, Meduza photo editor Katya Balaban captures the country’s vanishing coast and all that’s being lost to the advancing sea.
Maija
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