Climate Refugees:

What happens when humaninfluenced environmental change

impacts the fundamental
existence of an entire community?

Nature & Society: Climate

Define climate
refugees and climate
Refugees

change
Examples of climate refugees
Incorporate key concepts of human
geography
Discuss implications and solutions for
those displaced by human-influenced
environmental change

What is a climate refugee?

No universally agreed upon definition
Also known as environmental
refugees or environmental
migrant
An estimated 50 million people have
been displaced in the last four years
because of rising sea levels,
desertification, dried up aquifers,
weather-induced flooding and other
serious environmental changes. (UN)

What is a climate refugee?

"People who are displaced from- or
who feel obliged to leave- their usual
place of residence, because their
lives, livelihoods and welfare have
been placed at serious risk as a
result of adverse environmental,
ecological or climatic processes and
events." (UN)
Many are technically IDPs, but the
media refers to them as refugees

What is climate change?

Environmental response to increased
levels of green house gasses (GHG)
in the atmosphere.
Most GHGs come from
industrialization and development.
Earth is not just warming, but
reconfiguring its whole climate.

What causes climate

change?

Climate Change impacts

More frequent and severe weather
patterns (including storms and
drought)
Rising sea levels
Coastal erosion
Ground water salination

Relevant Concepts
Cultural ecology vs. political ecology
Impacts of land-use change on the
environment
Industrialization and urbanization
have a global impact.

Examples of climate
refugees

350.org

Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Mohammad Rakibul
Hasan

Bangladesh

Small Island States

Residents of Tuvalu, a Polynesian Island situated midway

between Hawaii and Australia, struggle with rising sea
level.

Maldives

Carteret Islands

Carteret Islands
The islands are so small that theyre barely visible on the map.

Google doesnt even ID

Carteret Islands on the map

Nature & Society

I=PAT
(Impact on Resources = Population x Affluence x
Technology)

But who is using the resources?

And who is feeling the impact?

Alaskan barrier island struggling to combat sea level rise.

Key Concepts
Cultural ecology vs. political ecology
Which best relates to the plight of
climate refugees?
Land-use change affects the
environment, both locally and
globally.
Industrialization and urbanization
(land use changes) have a global
impact.

Political Ecology and Climate

Refugees
Carbon in the atmosphere is unseen,
difficult to comprehend its role in
environmental change
Climate and GHG mitigation policies
influence the global environment
(atmosphere, oceans)
Cap and Trade
Global policy impacts cultural
ecology

Isle de Jean Charles,

Louisiana

Isle de Jean Charles,

Louisiana

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Isle de Jean Charles,

Louisiana

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Are the Boloxi-Choctaw

Indians climate

Conclusions
Marginalized communities feel the
effects of climate change first and
most severely
Those who contribute the least to
climate change are impacted most

Climate refugees flees coastal Bangladesh to the inland slums. (Radio

Want to learn more?

www.350.org
www.islandsfirst.org
http://www.storyofstuff.com/capandtr
ade/

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