Overview of Regional Chapters: Human Migration Because Of Climate Change

This book mainly covers the linkage in the human migration and the climate change. Although many people had been displaced around the world for various reasons, the changing climate is also one of the factors considerable to manage for better lives in term of policy arrangement. This book covers the world regions of Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, The Middle East, North America, Latin America and Caribbean, Oceania and the Himalaya. The research from this book explores the evidence to prove the relationship between changing climate and human migration. 

Asia

Not a continent in the world could not have a chance to avoid from the climate change that Asia is also one of them. Pace of climate change together with the human migration in interstate and intrastate are the challenges for the nation-states. Large river basins in Central, South, East and South-East Asia regions will be projected with major changes such as decreasing of fresh water availability and flood related risk will be faced in densely populated mega-delta-regions of South, East and South-East Asia. Not only the urban areas and its residents are very vulnerable for heavy populations on the high number of migrants who moved for their social and economic reasons, but the largely populated regions river valleys, deltas and coastal regions will be exposed to danger in face of adverse changing climate. By broad overview of demographic and migration issues, Asia societies will be impacted from the environmental change both in liner and non-linear process. Although linear process could be estimated where progressively increasing, the non- linear process could not be forecast where changes could be significant. The coping system should be developed by effective management on the interaction between human mobility and major climate change. The policymakers would be beneficial with the strong evidence of the research data on existing patterns, drivers and migration impacts and the capacities of the policymakers as well. So, the book encouraged to conduct research mainly emphasized on those issues which make impact on people’s livelihood.

Europe

This chapter focus on within the Europe and between Europe and its neighbors’ countries as Northern Europe and Mediterranean as pull countries and coastal southern Mediterranean and part of eastern Europe are facing environmental changes as push factor to migrate. Current environmental hazards in Europe are limited water resources in ununiformed distribution rainfall pattern, river flooding, wildfires and sea-level rise. With the complexity in geographical region in climate, landscape and socioeconomic conditions, drivers of migrations are political, social, economical and cultural. Thus, the climate also varied accordingly with latitudinally, continentally and altitudinally with climate change impacted complexity. While the south of Europe is economically poorer in compare to the wealthier north of Europe that the coping mechanism is different through hazards of climate change. Regions with highly urbanized and industrial are most attracted for migration that make more vulnerable for changing climate that whether theses wealthier nations could develop mitigation and emergency planning strategies for future consequences.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Like in the other continent of the world, there is lack of factual data addressing the environmental change linked to migration. However, there are still some work focus on the drought and desertification impacts and the rainfall and soil erosion which force people to migrate. The stress of environmental change surely influenced the human mobility but still there are complexities in this relationship as the environmental factor is not the only factor to consider. This book provides review on the 30 studies of the human mobility in terms of internal and international. On the other hand, the human migration pattern alteration by the climate change stress as it impacted largely for people livelihoods. So, it might harm the migrants who mobilize for the adaptation for climate change under marginalized situation at the destination region. One more thing is that people find difficult to have enough money for migration in the most depleted areas and only few people migrate in the unfavorable climatic conditions that highlight poverty is significant reason. The water stress due to climate change in 2020 will have impact to 75 and 250 million people and rain fed agriculture will reduce yields by 50 percent which would end up worsen malnutrition with threatening the food security.

Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Middle East countries emphasized on Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Yemen considerate on population size and vulnerability to drought, and socioeconomic development on income level. The decision for migration has been influenced by various factors that those of which are not relate to environmental factors in the past studies. But still there are significant impacts of water scarcity, aridity and drought, soil fertility to agricultural yields and sea-level rise. As the socioeconomic level of the household are different that climate change impacted in ununiformed pattern. Although there is less stress of climate role in probability of migration than that of economic reasons, important deterioration in climatic conditions still trigger 1.5 percentage of temporary and permanent migration. The migration due to environmental trend has described in the book that historical review and the current human mobility and climate change events. The impact of climate change in this region are of rise in temperature, changes in precipitation and decrease winter snow pack with decreasing water supply.  

Conclusion

This book provides the comprehensive overview of the research conducted by the local expert that clearly explain the detail about the root causes of the changing climate in each region with its due causes and the impact of climate change which affects the movement of people. However, many researchers had been published for the human migrations under causes on social, economic and political, this book highlight the linkages for the policy makers to prepare for better management on current human migration and the potential number of possible human migration.