Sembakkam Lake, on the outskirts of the Indian city of Chennai, offers a placid view on a recent afternoon, with migratory birds cruising its shores and a small boat with two fishermen bobbing in the center. The calm belies the lake’s pioneering role in a struggle against climate change, and the toll rising sea levels will exact on this rapidly expanding city of 8 million people.
With surrounding communities burgeoning, Sembakkam Lake functions as a catch basin during seasonal monsoons and a reservoir during the long spells without rain in between. The lake helps prevent both flooding and drought, twin perils that afflict Chennai with increasing frequency and severity because of climate change. Just a few years ago, Sembakkam Lake was so overgrown with invasive weeds and clogged with garbage that it made both of those problems worse.
