UNESCO chose to emphasize the land reclaimed by the Acadians, but the emotional power of the place is conveyed in Longfellow’s epic poem, Evangeline. The British, often at war with their rivals the French, gathered up thousands of neutral Acadian civilians, many whose families had lived in Nova Scotia (and nearby areas) for a hundred years, loaded them on ships and forcibly deported them to France and various colonies. The Grand Dérangement began in 1755, lasted 9 years, deported over 80% of the 14,000 Acadians, and 5,000 of those died due to shipwrecks, disease and starvation. A cross marks the spot where families were loaded into small boats, often separated, and taken on the dramatic tides out to ships in the bay.
The land is important too. The British certainly wanted control of the productive farming land that the Acadians had reclaimed from the sea using a remarkable system of dykes and aboiteaux or sluice gates. Tens of thousands of acres of farmland lies below high tide here, drained by one way gates in massive 17th century dykes. The replacement English speaking settlers, many from New England, maintained the dykes, and today’s warming climate allows vineyards on the surrounding hills. My cousin kindly showed me a working sluice gate, now operated remotely, and we walked along one of the dykes, appreciating the innovation and contemplating the rich red mud cut in deep channels.
Through our inaction on carbon pollution, we cause the sea to rise and claim our productive land. We cause hundreds of millions to be displaced, forcing refugees to move inland. We cause huge economic costs and more deaths due to disease, heat, pollution, starvation and storms.
It is easy today to say that the British were wrong to deport the Acadians. Yes we must admit that we’re committing a far worse global atrocity through our indifference to our carbon emissions.
Zero Carbon Travel 
This is a very well written piece describing a very troubling time in Nova Scotia history. The expulsion of the Acadians is something we can learn from and consider how we treat one another as populations that sometimes enter into conflict.We can also learn from the environment, and the dykes are an amazing example of mankind working either the environment to make life better. Due to human caused climate change, though, the dykes and the thousands of acres of prime farmland they protect are threatened by rising sea levels – something we need to address right now. This holds true not only for the land near Grand Pre, it is also true for the one land connection between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, across the Tantramar marshes, which is also reclaimed dyke land. Should either duke system be flooded, something that is a real possibility with rising ocean levels and increased storms, the economic losses would be substantial, as would the damage to wildlife in the area.It was fun showing you the sluice gate and the tidal structure of the Minas Basin. Thanks for bringing this to people’s attention.
This is a very well written piece describing a very troubling time in Nova Scotia history. The expulsion of the Acadians is something we can learn from and consider how we treat one another as populations that sometimes enter into conflict.
We can also learn from the environment, and the dykes are an amazing example of mankind working either the environment to make life better. Due to human caused climate change, though, the dykes and the thousands of acres of prime farmland they protect are threatened by rising sea levels – something we need to address right now. This holds true not only for the land near Grand Pre, it is also true for the one land connection between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, across the Tantramar marshes, which is also reclaimed dyke land. Should either duke system be flooded, something that is a real possibility with rising ocean levels and increased storms, the economic losses would be substantial, as would the damage to wildlife in the area.
It was fun showing you the sluice gate and the tidal structure of the Minas Basin. Thanks for bringing this to people’s attention.