Climate drives people away

As sea levels and temperatures continue to rise, more and more people will lose their homes.

Imagine living on a mini-island in the middle of the sea. There is a beach in front of your house. But one day the beach is barely there, the waves reach almost to your house. Very slowly, over a long period of time, the sea level has risen. You have to move to be safe from big waves. But where to?

The sea level thing is a reality for many people around the world: they have to leave their homes because the environment they live in is changing. Only a few of them live on islands, but many also live on coasts that are also affected.

The fact that sea levels are rising is only part of a major problem on Earth. Over many years, the world will become warmer. Researchers call this climate change. In some regions, this means that it is getting hotter and drier, and less is growing in the fields. In other places, instead, there is much more rain – sometimes so much that entire landscapes are flooded more and more often. For many people in the world, climate change means that they have to leave their homes. It's hard to count exactly how many there are, says researcher Susanne Melde. Instead, she and her colleagues look at where people have had to leave their homes because of natural disasters – such as floods and storms. Last year alone, that was millions of people around the world. Some of them were able to return later. Others, however, had to move away permanently because their homes or fields were destroyed. This is a big problem in Asia, for example. In Vietnam, the government has already had to abandon places and resettle people because it became too dangerous. "Then the government comes and tells the people: You can't stay here," says Susanne Melde. People then move to other places. Floods and storms have always existed. "Today, however, we know that such natural disasters related to the climate have increased significantly in recent decades," explains climate researcher Jonathan Donges. For example, there are not only more frequent storms and floods, they also become stronger. But back to the islands: Where can the inhabitants move? Jonathan Donges explains: The government of the island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean, for example, has bought land from other countries. The residents should be able to move there if necessary. But many people still have one hope: climate change could be slowed down. The governments of almost every country in the world want to try to do something about climate change. Perhaps more people around the world would then be able to keep their homes.