Click to play videoGhoramara island, Sunderbans: Global warming is no longer an unseen threat – and in one Sunderbans island – it harsh reality is beginning to sink in.
Fishing for tiny murala Anjuman and her husband Sheikh Jiyan stand in a murky pond near their house.
Once farmers they've turned to fishing after their farmland was lost to the encroaching waters of the nearby river.
"When I had land, I had a very good life," says Sheikh jiyan, adding, "But after losing the land I have to do physical labour".
Rising water levels have eroded, by some accounts, 40 to 50 per cent of the landmass on the Ghoramara island in Sundarbans.
"Sea level rise in the Sundarbans area is higher than the global average of 2.5 mm per year – here it is 3.1 mm per year that is the rise in the sea level," Wildlife Protection Society of India Member S R Banerjee.
Ghoramara island is part of the Sundarbans – the Sundarbans delta.
It is home to the largest mangrove forest in the world. With their thick roots – these mangroves hold together the shifting sands.
Ghoramara was home to more than twelve thousand people about two decades ago according to local officials. But half of the population has fled – today just over five thousand live on the island.
"If the whole island goes in the water – only then we will go," said Sheikh Jiyan.
That's the sentiment across this island it's a fragile ecosystem – but people have built their lives and homes on the island and are reluctant to leave.
What's interesting is that many say they've never heard of global warming or climate change – but many scientists say they're living on the frontlines of it.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.