Climate Change and Displacement of People
Human actions and behaviors are the primary contributors to climate change. Human beings have continuously destroyed the environment by cutting trees down, emitting poisonous substances into the atmosphere and water sources, and over-exploitation of the available resources. Their actions have led to change in seasons and increased temperatures on the earth’s surface. Increased warmth in the earth’s surface have significant impact as it has led to increased famine, floods, and displacement of people due to the expansion of oceans and seas, increased health and mental issues, and many other challenges. This paper will discuss how climate change has resulted in the movement and displacement of people.
Changes in climate have led to increased occurrence of hurricanes, which in most cases, they are destructive. The storms occur when the moist and warm air in the oceans rapidly rises and mixes with the cooler water vapor in the atmosphere to form drops of rain and a storm of the cloud (Berchin et al. 147). The hurricanes’ winds move in a spiral and around the storm. The storm becomes dangerous when it pushes the waters into the land as it causes flooding. The floods force people to move away from the coastal regions since it destroys their homes, properties, and people might die in the process. It even destroys even the communication lines and network, and after the hurricanes, people start to rebuild from scratch while others move to other places away from the cost.
The climate has become hotter than it used to be, thus forcing people to move to other warmer places or adopt other measures such as the use of air conditioners. The earth’s poles are crucial as they contain ice that helps regulate the earth’s temperature, but due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, the temperature has risen, causing the ice to melt. The melting of ice at the Arctic and Antarctic has led to rising of seas that cause floods in the coastal regions forcing people to move to safer ground (Berchin et al. 148). Many coastal regions are experiencing high tides, which has become a common thing forcing people to relocate due to the frequent floods. The warmer temperatures result in spring coming earlier than usual; to escape the uncomfortable temperatures, plants and animals are forced to move toward the poles in search of cooler temperatures. The winter is no longer cold with much ice as it used to be, and the summer has become hotter. Therefore, those uncomfortable with the hot weather get forced to move to colder regions.
The loss of the ice in the Arctic has led to erosion of the coastal region, taking some islands such as Shishmaref in Alaska. People were forced to move to abandon the island since their homes had been lost and more destruction way to come, so they left for other places. Many towns in Alaska are affected by the storms, and soon, the people living there may be forced to leave (Berchin et al. 150). The United States government had to resettle people living in Isle de Jean Charles, as their island had sunk into the Gulf of Mexico. The rise in sea levels and erosion has forced people to move from the coastal regions to safer ground, but they only run for a short time and come back as they are attached to the location.
Unless measures get taken to prevent the rise in the temperatures on the earth’s surface, people will continue to be displaced and their properties and lives lost. Therefore, everyone has to place their part to reduce the climate changes experienced.