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It really says a lot that the figure people give is instantly the number of refugees.
by Zababa 5y ago
It really says a lot that the figure people give is instantly the number of refugees.
- Sharlin 5y agoIt's a good metric to give because the whole concept of climate refugees seems to be something people often haven't even considered. We seem to have grown so used to this modern sedentary lifestyle that we forget that migration is what humans do, what we have adapted to do, when conditions become inhospitable. Especially if the alternative is to give up and die.
- Zababa 5y agoI think that anyone that lives in Europe has already considered this, especially after the waves of "Syrian refugees". People in North America may not think about it too much as crossing the Atlantic is a bit more involved than crossing the Mediterranean sea.
- Teknoman117 5y agoAs far as North America goes, while I can't speak for Canada, I know the US is wholly unprepared for massive migration from other regions. Look at how we view immigrants right now. The last administration's brand was "build a wall and keep them out". These are just the people who are running from oppressive governments or cartels - when global climate change makes the equatorial regions less and less inhabitable from pure heat, apocalyptic storms, desertification, severe humidity, etc. all of Central America is headed northward towards the US and Canada, or south towards Argentina and southern Chile. Admittedly, we're only going to be dealing with 550 million people being added to our combined 360 million people, as compared to Northern Asia and Europe, which will be dealing with literally the rest of the human species. The first wave is going to be all the pacific islanders looking to move when the fish stocks collapse in the 2050s to places like China, Japan, and Australia (while it hasn't completely overheated yet). The next two centuries are going to suck unless we actually do something about it. Presumably after that we'll have taken so much of a beating that some new equilibrium will have been achieved.
- kergonath 5y agoThey will find a way. We are nothing if not resourceful when our lives are on the line.
- Tepix 5y agoThere will be more and more climate refugees within the US.
- kergonath 5y agoA small fraction of that number of refugees is bringing several European and American democracies to their knees. The problem is not the migrants, but how they are used to prop up fascistic and illiberal agenda. Regardless of the other effects of climate change, this in itself could cause the collapse of a few countries, which is kind of a big deal.
- Zababa 5y ago> The problem is not the migrants, but how they are used to prop up fascistic and illiberal agenda. Migrants are also part of the problem. Integrating other people has always been hard.