Amali Tower

The Not-So-Hidden Climate Risks for Gaza's Displaced

The Not-So-Hidden Climate Risks for Gaza's Displaced

Gaza is one of the world’s most densely populated places. A narrow strip of land only 141 sq. miles (365 sq. km.), it is home to 2.1 million Palestinians, 81 percent of whom are refugees. In addition to the humanitarian and political crises created by multiple years of recurring conflict, Gaza is also highly vulnerable to climate change. This includes experiencing more frequent and increased cold snaps in winter months and temperatures rising 20 percent faster than anywhere else in the world.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has examined the intersections of the environment, climate change and conflict extensively, and as the ICRC puts it, Gaza is “where the effects of climate change exacerbate serious humanitarian needs resulting from an unresolved conflict.”

Extreme Climate Events Driving Migration and Trafficking in Odisha, India

Extreme Climate Events Driving Migration and Trafficking in Odisha, India

A new UK foreign office-funded study has found extreme climate events like cyclones, storms, floods and drought are driving residents in Odisha’s coastal Kendrapara district and Jharkhand’s Palamu districts to migrate. Alarmingly, the social protections available are increasingly stretched beyond capacity to accommodate the increasing climate events, driving residents to migrate and in turn, increasing their vulnerabilities to trafficking.

At the same time, an extreme heat wave has been impacting thousands across India and Pakistan, which the World Weather Attribution says is 30 times more likely because of the effects of climate change, and in fact, “would have been extraordinarily rare without human-induced climate change.”

Future Climate Floods Will Impact US Black Communities Worse

Future Climate Floods Will Impact US Black Communities Worse

Of course the impacts of more frequent and intense storms aren’t financial only, but the longterm compounding effects they impose can be devastating. Those who can afford insurance now may find themselves priced out of the market, while those uninsured, will be even more dependent on unequal state and federal assistance, which bears the legacy of racism even in disaster.

Climate Change Displacing Already Vulnerable Iraqis; Spells Trouble for Region

Climate Change Displacing Already Vulnerable Iraqis; Spells Trouble for Region

With about 30 percent of Iraq covered in desert, all of these added climate problems, along with a population rapidly increasing, which we detailed in this earlier Spotlight, renders an already vulnerable population from conflict, geopolitical tensions, decades of sanctions, chronic poverty and corruption, rather fragile. It’s no wonder then that right now, thousands of families across Iraq continue to be displaced from their homes in rural parts of the country due to the loss of arable land and water scarcity.

Tropical Cyclone Cody Strikes Secondary Displacement to Fiji's Climate Displaced

Tropical Cyclone Cody Strikes Secondary Displacement to Fiji's Climate Displaced

Of those evacuees, The Fiji Times is reporting, 200 include “climate change refugees in Dreketi who were relocated more than a year ago” in the wake of cyclone Ana last year. The 200 villagers were relocated last from Navabatu last January after the storm’s impact sustained cracks in infrastructure.

2021 Deepened Climate Migration as Survival

2021 Deepened Climate Migration as Survival

2021 closed with yet another year of record forcibly displaced persons and the climate crisis played a major role driving over 84 million people out of their homes.

We already know that in 2020, three times as many people - 30.7 million - were internally displaced by the climate crisis than by conflict or violence. Numbers over the last decade don’t fair any better either, where twice as much displacement was triggered by weather-related events than conflict or violence. The trends tell us people are being forcibly displaced, forced to migrate and wherever possible, migrating to survive.