“A continually warming world will be a graveyard for entire ecosystems, entire peoples – and potentially even entire nations,” stated, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, 2016 UN high Commissioner for Human Rights at the time stated.”
There is a humanitarian crisis occurring that most of the world is ignoring. When people talk about climate change, some common themes include rising temperatures, carbon footprints, and fossil fuels. While it is very easy to draw a connection to how these topics negatively affect the earth, a situation that is typically left out of the discourse is how these issues affect people. This is not just how this will affect future generations, but how it is negatively impacting individuals and families today. Climate change is leading to one of the displacements of people forced to leave their homes, and the people affected by this issue are known as climate refugees. I am advocating for this issue for one to inform more people about the crisis of climate refugees, but also for reforms that will in turn help areas affected, to prevent the people of these areas from forcible migration. This does not always get as much attention as more noticeable climate effects such as floods and wildfires, because it is occurring over time at a more slow moving pace.
A climate refugee is simply an individual who was forced to leave their home due to conditions based on climate change. This can occur for numerous reasons. With a quick google search, hundreds of articles popped up with alarming titles. I chose to read more from National Geographic . The striking title is 143 Million People May Soon Become Climate Migrants, World Bank Warns. The article explains, much of the crisis is due to situations such as crop failure, water scarcity and famine. This huge shift will take place in regions such as Sub Sahara Africa, Latin America, and South Asia which uncoincidentally are home to a large population of undeveloped citizens. According to an Oxfam Report, the poorest 50% of the global population emit only 10% of emissions whilst the richest 10% are responsible for 50% of emissions.”How does that seem fair? The richest countries are causing all the problems and the poorer countries and communities are left to deal with the consequences.
The reason I am advocating for this is because of a few main reasons. There is the obvious that it is so untalked about in the over all climate change discourse, but also another troubling point is that this people do not have a lot of resouces helping them. Helprefugees.org explains despite the massive impact this has had on millions of people across the globe, climate refugees do not fit into the traditional definition of a refufee, which is fleeing persecution. Therefore, under the 1951 Refugee Convention, they cannot apply for resettlement in another country. Their only option is to flee. For example, there are currently 200,000 Bangladeshis who are displaces every year due to riber bank erosion but they have no protection or legal reconigiztion and refugees. Another source responding to the recent storm in the Bahamas destroyed the homes of numerous citizens. Hundreds of people were turned away from a boat to Florida, because they did not have visas and were not protected by any law. There are currently no laws surrounding how to treat refugees fleeing to due climate change, which leaves that at a great risk. The refugee laws that were drafted in 1951 “simply aren’t accommodating the needs of the modern world,” the article continues to explain that nature is the new form of human rights violations.
Laura Parker, the author of the national geographic article explains there will be a huge shift from rural to urban areas, but it is not too late to plan for this. Cities should take steps to plan for the arrival of climate refugees, such as education and job planning. However, of course there is still the obvious push to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emotions, the flood of migrants could very likely decrease. Parker again emphasizes say there is still reason for optimism: if the world acts in time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and engages in “robust development planning,” the flood of “climate migrants” could be reduced by 80 percent to a mere 40 million people.
We learned in class that climate scientists have estimated that we can release about 7 x10^14kg of additional CO and have 66% chance of keeping total warming below 2 degrees Celsius. 1 metric ton = 1,000 kg. In order to see how many years left we have if we continue at the rate of CO2 release we use now, we will do a simple equation below.
\[ 7 \times 10^{14} \times \frac{1 \text{year}}{3.6 \times 10^{13} \text{kg}} = 19 \text{years} \]
This means if we continue at the same rate, we only have 19 years before we further increase warming. In order to prevent this 2 degrees’ Celsius increase and prevent dangerous climate change, the world would need to reduce emissions “between 40% and 70% by 2050. The rate of Co2 growth over the last decade is 100 to 200 times faster than what the earth experienced during the transition from the last Ice Age.” We therefore need to work on significantly cutting our carbon budget. This will further lead to helping climate migrants, as suggested in the article. The graph below shows the correlection between the increased CO2 and the rising temperatures.
Another issue that is causing climate refugees is sea level rise. This can cause flooding, contaminate drinking water, disrupt agriculture and any wildlife in the biodiversity. According to NASA, the estimated rate of change per year is 3.3 mm. If this were to continue at this rate, we can do a simple proportion to estimate what it will look like in the year 2050, which is when much of the UN sustainability goals are set for. We will be using 30 years because it is about 30 years untill 2050.
\[ 3.3 \times {30} = 99 \text{ mm} \]
\[ \frac{1 \text{ mm}}{0.39 \text{ in}} = \frac{99 \text{ mm}}{x \text{ in}} \]
\[ x = 3.4 \text{in } \]
While 3.4 inches may not sound like a lot, this is a very big increase that could have very detrimental effects on earth for many of the numerous reasons from above. Any population near water can be in grave danger due to this. With the temperature of earth rising, ice caps continue to melt and sea levels continue to rise. NASA also reported that “Eighteen of the 19 warmest years all have occurred since 2001.” While the connection to how this affects people may not be obvious just from statistics, below are real life survivors of the unpredicable affects of climate change.
The Intercept posted stories from climate refugees. Michelle Teixeria’s is currently leaving in a 300-square-foot trailer with her husband, father, 2 daughters, and 4 dogs after her home was destroyed in a California wildfire. It will take months for the her family to build enough money for them to rebuild their hom. David from Honduras was forced to join a caravan becuase the drought made it impossible for his family to earn a living. Now he sleeps in a tent with other men who have embarked on this journey for a better future, but is stuck at the US – Mexico border. The Gaurdian reported on the monsoon floods in Bangladesh. Saber Saladas and his family were fishers and farmers for generations. In recent years however, the coastal storms grew more severe. Eventually, their home was flooded and their crops ruined. This led the Salada’s to flee the villiage where their family had lived for generations. They explain “boats pass over where our land once was.” There are hundreds of other stories like this for the people in Bangladesh.
Pope Francis stated in 2016, “climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis.” The World’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most valuable and already suffering its impact. It may seem like not a present threat because it is only affecting people in specific regions, but it can happen anywhere. Think of hurricane Katrina for example, which occured in one of the world’s wealthiest nations. This left 800,000 people homeless, and over 2830 people fatalities. If a climate disaster so horrible can happen in a progressive country such as the US, imagine what happens in developing countries.
By reducing greenhouse emotions like Co2, there is a chance to halt the heating of the climate and therefore halting sea level rise. We as a nation must focus more on the direct correlation between climate change and the refugees, and fight climate change together. There nees to be a change in law for both advocating for laws that prevent climate change, but also laws that are put in place to protect refugees. The International Organization for migration estimates that due to extreme environemntal issues, there could be 200 million climate refugees by 2050. The next steps would be while reconizing your own individual climate footprint, also contact local and national govenrments to advocate for law reform on this issues. Systematic changes are impertative for protecting the envionement and climate refugees. The next time you discuss the future consequences of climate chnage, remember there are current changes occuring forcing the displacement of millions of people. Make climate refugees a part of the conversation.
Bibliography
- Bayes, Ahmed. “Who Takes Responsibility for the Climate Refugees?” International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Jan. 2018, www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCCSM-10-2016-0149/full/html#sec002.
- Kinstler, Linda. “Big Tech Firms Are Racing to Track Climate Refugees.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 17 May 2019, www.technologyreview.com/s/613531/big-tech-firms-are-racing-to-track-climate-refugees/.
- Davies, Bethan. “Calculating Glacier Ice Volumes and Sea Level Equivalents”\. “Antartic Glaciers.
4. https://ejfoundation.org/resources/downloads/BeyondBorders.pdf: Environmental Justice Foundation