In the time it took you to read the title, two people were displaced from their homes due to climate change. 

Climate displacement is not equally distributed. While it is not on the minds of most Americans, forty-seven percent of the residents on Tuvalu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, will have to seek resettlement by 2030. Few have the means to do so. 

Tuvalu will be among the world’s first climate migrants. But there will be many many more – estimates range from 200 million to one billion people.

Climate migration is when climate stressors, such as the rising sea level in Tuvalu, or changing rainfall and temperatures elsewhere pressure people to permanently or temporarily leave their homes and livelihoods. Like any migration that is dominated by push factors, it can be jarring, painful, and sudden. 

Climate migration is not limited to countries like Tuvalu, although it would be equally important even if it was. Most climate migration is within national boundaries, but it does and will continue to spill into international domain. Climate change and therefore climate migration will affect American migration, European city demographics, and beyond. 

Increasing our understanding of climate migration is essential as it continues to impact migrants, global security, and human development. To do so this beat will explore several themes. Are humans by definition climate migrants? Is there value in distinguishing between climate and other migration – especially when the climate will exacerbate other causes of migration? What can be done to make migration more comfortable and less jarring? How can awareness be ensured that although dire, the climate is one of many factors, not the only cause of migration?

Climate migration is here, and this beat seeks to help us understand it.