On the front line of climate change, fisherfolk stare into the abyss

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Editor's note: This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. On a sultry July morning, Rajamma woke up early for another day of hawking fish in Guppadipeta, a coastal village in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. Her three children were still in various stages of drowsiness in the family’s cramped house. She put on a pink sari, slipped into a pair of turquoise flip-flops, grabbed swathes of old, tattered saris and two plastic baskets, and dashed off to the Guppadipeta beach, half a kilometre away.  The India Meteorological Department that week had predicted squalls, with winds gusting up to 60 kmph—not safe for fishers heading to sea. Regardless, half a dozen boats had dared to venture into the sea, desperate for a catch. Some of those fishers had already returned and were selling fish by the time Rajamma arrived. She joined other vendors, mostly women, who huddled around piles of Indian mackerel, seer fish, pomfret, snakeheads, crab and shrimp.  While most women either yelled at or pleaded with the fishers to haggle the price down, Rajamma, who is in her late forties, spoke …