TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Lucie AUBOURG, "America's national parks are losing their identity to climate change"
This aerial photo shows rocks built up in front of homes along the coast of Lake Michigan in Ogden Dunes, Indiana, on November 3, 2023. Houses in one of the villages that dot the park threatened to collapse, and residents erected massive rock blocks on the beach to shield them from erosion. This solution however sparked controversy as the obstacles worsened the degradation of dunes further along the shore.
As Betsy Maher, executive director of "Save the Dunes," puts it: "We can't destroy the beach for the sake of a few homes." The dilemma encapsulates the harsh tradeoff that is at times imposed by climate change: save nature, or save humans? (Photo by Diane DESOBEAU / AFP)