Climate change is defined as a long-term change in temperature and weather conditions. Although these changes could come out of the solar cycle, since the 1800s, the high usage of non-renewable fuel sources, which produce large amounts of carbon dioxide scattered in the air, played a crucial role in changing climate zones. Climate change affects not only the environment but also human life in every aspect, including settlement patterns. 

Climate change has a negative effect on human settlement patterns. Political conflict and climate change have forced many people to flee and migrate for years. The Horn of Africa is among the regions that were hardest hit. According to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, natural disasters force an average of 21.5 million people to leave their homes each year. Scientists predict that migration will increase as the Earth’s temperature gets higher. Rising sea levels, drought, searing temperatures, and other climate disasters are expected to uproot 143 million people over the next 30 years, which means talking about 2% of the world’s population, and here the fact that vulnerable areas are most affected because of the lack of well-maintained infrastructure is needed to be highlighted. In addition, Climate change is a strong driver of internal migration due to its impacts on people's livelihoods in high-risk locations.

In countries most affected by climate change, people have problems with farming and hardly have access to clean water and food. Therefore, hunger comes out, and people start fighting because of this shortage. Along with hunger, the economic circumstances in these areas are getting worse. However, migration can be viewed as a coping mechanism for increased stresses and shocks caused by climate change (Laczko and Aghazarm, 2009; Tacoli, 2009), as well as various other factors when migration is viewed as an adaptive response to different economic, social, political, demographic, and environmental "drivers," that enable them to find a better and safer life. Migration is seen as the opportunity or the chance of their life and the most effective option for individuals to diversify their income and build resilience. As a result, channels for voluntary migration must be developed. Many extreme weather disasters due to climate change are not limited in terms of a country's income or GDP. This was demonstrated in 2021 by terrible floods in Europe, record-breaking floods in China, and the harsh winter temperatures and storms in the United States. However, higher-income nations have adaptable resources to deal with the inescapable consequences of climate change. Low-income countries do not. This is what made Afghanistan,  Bangladesh, Chad, and Haiti, the four countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, according to the data and rankings from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative and Germanwatch's Climate Risk Index.

The current rate of Climate migration not only poses a significant global issue, but also has serious consequences for the host community, affecting food and water security, health, human well-being, the economy, density, and the demand on the existing supply of the host country are two of the most significant difficulties associated with population density. Uneven and unpredicted population growth can lead to short-term distribution problems, raising prices and making products and commodities scarce.

To conclude, there is a connection between climate change and migration. But climate change is not the only reason for people to move. Climate change is continuing as Human-caused emissions are increasing, and the mobility process is becoming more circular than permeant. Countries need to accept the climate refugee situation, create a common understanding to approach climate displacement as a human security issue, not a border security issue, and develop their politics accordingly.

References:

Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2. Accessed 22 Dec. 2022.

Laczko, F., Piguet, E. (2014). Regional Perspectives on Migration, the Environment and Climate Change. 

https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202021_2.pdf

https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/rankings/

Photo by Li-An Lim on Unsplash

Editor: Büşra Çanakçı