A man walks on Atafona beach in Atafona
A man walks on Atafona beach, near debris of a destroyed house in Atafona, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of Rio de Janeiro, November 11, 2010. Local fishermen bet on divine fury, scientists raise theories, but the fact is that the town of Atafona is disappearing. Located in a delta in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, this small town of sand is being swallowed by the ocean as rising temperatures speed up the process of erosion. According to researchers, a total of 183 buildings have been destroyed and the Marine lighthouse moved twice in the past 30 years. Researchers from the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) created the Atafona Project in 2003 to study the causes of accelerated coastal erosion in the region. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes (BRAZIL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)