For residents of Chashma Goth, a coastal village in Karachi, Pakistan, flooding is an all-too-frequent occurrence. 

The government's decade-old seawall no longer functions properly, according to the regional ARY News, and locals who face the constant threat of rising seawaters experience ongoing challenges to their safety and livelihoods.

What's happening?

Intruding seawaters threaten low-lying and low-income communities worldwide. In Karachi's coastal settlements, insufficient drainage systems lead to damaged homes and disrupted lives "during monsoon season or even regular high tides," ARY News reports. 

Freshwater fish breeding is also threatened by saltwater incursion, and flooding can take fishing boats out of the ocean, costing the many families who rely on the industry.

Despite these challenges, and though many are displaced for periods of time, some villagers don't want to permanently relocate. 

"During floods, we move to higher places for a while," Nawaz Ali told the news outlet. "But we do not migrate. This is our home."

Why are rising sea levels along the Karachi coast concerning?

While tidal surges and monsoon rains are not new phenomena, scientists agree that human-driven warming — caused by heat-trapping pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas — is amplifying the severity of these extreme weather events. 

Other human activities are also compromising coastal life.

The deforestation of protective mangroves has left communities more vulnerable to rising seas, storms, and erosion. Property developers have cleared mangroves for construction, while others harvest the trees for fuelwood and commercial use. 

A World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan report noted that mangrove cover shrank by 200 hectares between 2010 and 2022, weakening a natural buffer to destructive waters along the Karachi coast.

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Meanwhile, seawater that breaches an aging seawall built by the state reportedly can form stagnant pools. Amnesty International has shared that such conditions can create breeding grounds for water-borne diseases, posing serious health risks to children and older adults in particular.

What's being done?

State officials have collaborated with community-based and non-governmental organizations to restore mangrove habitats. The tree cover expanded from 44,486 to 106,637 hectares from 1988 to 2024, according to a 2025 report in Ecological Indicators.

Flood-resistant home designs from experts like Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari can offer hope for resilient futures. And public-private partnerships working to implement nutrition, sanitation, and vaccination programs could help mitigate other flood-related struggles.

Meanwhile, the interruption of U.S.-backed foreign assistance early in 2025 has shed light on the low- and middle-income coastal communities around the world in need of additional support to survive rising sea levels and intensifying storms.

Global coordination will be required to effectively address such disasters in the long term, but actions closer to home can also unlock progress. Supporting reforestation, making the switch to cleaner energy sources, and being a mindful consumer can help. Individuals can also call upon elected officials and prominent decision-makers to get vocal about the impacts of rising seas and disappearing forests and get serious about funding resilient infrastructure, such as updating functional seawalls and restoring natural flood barriers.

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