Salines beach opens onto a body of water generally very calm as it is well protected from the prevailing winds and the Atlantic swell. Its long stretch of clear sand lined with coconut palms is highly sought-after by Martinican people and visitors alike. However, for twenty years, the sea has been inexorably gaining on the beach, with three feet (1 m) of sand disappearing each year under the effect of the rising waters. Salines beach has thus receded by about 65 ft (25 m) since 1995. This phenomenon linked to global warming is particularly sensitive on the peninsula of Sainte-Anne, one of the oldest geological areas of Martinique, where the altitude of the land is very close to sea level. This probably irreversible movement is further aggravated by the flow of visitors and cars that compact the soft ground behind the beach. As for the roots of the coconut palms planted in the 1950s, they are much shallower than those of local trees and far from having the same qualities for retaining sand and delaying erosion.