Climate change and the effect of sea-level rise on the coastal fishing communities of Cross River Estuary: the concept of floating sustainable settlements as a solution

The effects of climate change are evident worldwide, from melting ice caps at the Poles to deforestation at the tropics, and to rising sea level along the world's coastal margins. The cause is due largely to atmospheric greenhouse activities. The anthropogenic emissions from fossil fuel have altered the compositional balance of carbon dioxide (an important greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere. The spread of climate change impact is wide and affect lands and peoples across national boundaries. Among the threatened are people who inhabit the vulnerable lands such as coastal barrier lands, troughs between highlands, marshlands, etc. For generations, the people who live by the coast of Cross River Estuary and the tributaries of Calabar, Imo and Great Kwa Rivers in Nigeria have practised their fishing occupation without serious hitches. This situation has changed of late due to uncertainties associated with unpredicted flooding attributed mainly to climate change. This paper examines a scenario of the likely effect of a sea-level rise on the coastal fishing communities of Cross River Estuary and proposes a new architectural concept for future rural coastal fishing settlements.