Governments need to plan better for rising migration driven by climate change, experts said on Thursday, citing evidence that extreme weather and natural disasters force far more people from their homes than wars.
Projections by leading climate scientists of rising sea levels, heatwaves, floods and droughts linked to global warming are likely to oblige millions of people to move out of harm’s way, with some never able to return.
The issue is politically sensitive at a time when economic austerity is straining the generosity of host governments and anti-immigrant sentiment is rising in many countries, especially in Europe.
“Natural disasters displace three to 10 times more people than all conflicts and war in the world combined,” said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council which runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in Geneva.
IDMC data show that 22 million people were displaced by extreme events in 2013, led by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, three times more than the number displaced by conflicts. In many other years, the ratio was much wider.
In the early 1970s, the total number of people displaced was only about 10 million. Extreme events also include earthquakes and tsunamis, unrelated to the weather.
Sea level rise of 19cm (8 inches) since 1900, caused by factors including a thaw of glaciers from the Andes to the Alps and of Greenland’s ice sheet, aggravates storm surges in many coastal regions, according to the UN panel of climate experts.
The panel’s scenarios point to a further rise of 26 to 82cm by the late 21st century. The panel says it is at least 95% probable that human activities, led by burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of warming.
Climate change also added reasons for people to leave home by disrupting food and water supplies.
PHOTO: Extreme events displaced 22 million people in 2013, led by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines - three times more than the number displaced by conflicts.
CREDIT: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images.