Climate Change and Its Impacts On Refugees and Displaced Communities

The world around us is changing day by day. The sad part is that the change that we are noticing is of no good. We are not denying the good things that have happened in the world in the past few years. But the number of bad changes and worsened conditions we are getting to see each day is something to worry about. Nature is the thing we are talking about. We have seen forests turning into barren lands in no time. We have experienced the most number of land sliding in the past few years. We have seen the rate of global warming increasing gradually. We have seen the most number of glaciers being melted in the last decade and many such incidents like these. The question is what’s the reason behind all of this? Humans are the reason.

In the past few decades, the average surface temperature of the earth has risen like anything and this phenomenon is called climate change. The excessive use of fossil fuels by humans is leading to high temperatures and that is resulting in more difficult winters and summers each year. The number of rains, floods, droughts, and storms have increased up to a huge amount resulting in destroying crops, killing livestock, creating famine, and threatening the lives of many people. Now the question is who are the people getting impacted by climate change the most? Refugees and displaced communities are the answer to this. Read about how their life has been affected by climate change.

The Effects of Climate Change:

What happens when the phenomenon of climate change starts increasing? The amount of rainfalls increases. The amount of floods increases too. People get to face extreme hot weather conditions. Many crops are destroyed because of floods and high temperatures. Such weather patterns lead to wildfires in any area resulting in the loss of plants and the lives of animals and humans. The worst thing it does is either displacing people or making the life of refugees or displaced people more difficult.

The Effects of Climate Change on Refugees and Displaced Communities:

We would like to explain to you who a refugee is and from where the displaced communities come from. A refugee is a person who is forced to leave his or her country because of any uncertain crisis.  This uncertain crisis includes war, persecution, natural disasters, and many such events. When the number of refugees reaches up to a certain limit then it is termed as displacement crisis.

An infinite amount of people who have left their homes and countries and have become a part of the displaced community and are experiencing food and water shortages. They are already shelter less and not even getting the natural resources on which they can survive through the day. Climate change has worsened their condition. Every podcast on immigration has discussed this matter at some point.

The majority of the refugees are living in climate change hotspots. These are the areas that get impacted the most, reducing their survival rate. The crops that were grown by these people in the area they started living as a refugee also get destroyed because of floods and excessive rainfalls. This results in increasing the conflict and competition for necessities among the displaced communities. Sahel region is an area of western Africa that has been hit by displacement crisis the most and now due to climate change the temperatures are increasing in that region jeopardizing the agricultural activities for the refugees there. In this region majority of the people live off the land and such weather patterns are increasing the risk of a new displacement crisis.

The homes that were built by the refugees when they were settled in the climate change hotspots after their displacement are also at a high risk of getting destroyed by strong winds, floods, or natural disasters. Also, the livestock that is also a means of earning for refugees is at risk of dying or getting sick because of floods. The increased temperatures are making the refugee children sick and are also leading to heatstroke that has become a reason behind the deaths of many refugees.

Climate change doesn’t affect the refugees directly. But the way it affects nature is directly connected to affecting the people living close to nature such as refugees and displaced people. This is the reason why the consequences of climate change should be taken seriously as it highly affects the people who are already shelter less and facing shortages of food and water.

The Number of People Displaced Up till Yet:

People who have experienced floods, storms, and natural disasters very closely know the fear of getting separated from their families, leaving a perfect house and losing everything they have earned in their whole lifetime. The count of such people is not restricted to thousands or ten thousand but millions.

Every year since 2008 more than 27 million people got displaced and lost their homes by natural disasters. More than 25 million people got displaced in 2019. This count is from around 140 countries all over the world. These are the statistics that were fortunately recorded while there might be many more thousands of people whose data couldn’t get into the record. A warning has been raised that this amount can rise to 200 million displacements each year if no serious action is taken.

How Can One Help? 

Enough of discussing the problem. Now let’s get to the real question. Several nonprofit organizations are working day and night to make the ends meet for refugees and displaced communities. You have two methods of helping them. The first one is to become a volunteer and participate by actually going to places and people affected by climate change and doing the best of your ability. The second one is to become a donor. We understand that for many people it is very difficult to take time out for being a volunteer. So considering that, you can become a donor just by contributing your part. Together we can.