Climate change-driven conflict & natural disaster to displace 1bn people over next four decades: Christian Aid
The relief agency, Christian Aid, has warned at least one billion people may be forced to flee their homes over the next four decades because of conflicts and natural disasters that will worsen with global warming, reports The Canberra Times (15/05/2007, p.8)
Forced migration threat the most urgent: "We believe that forced migration is now the most urgent threat facing poor people in the developing world," said John Davison, main author of Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis, the report published by Christian Aid. While the figure of displaced people was already staggeringly high, the report warned, "in future, climate change will push it even higher. "
250m displaced by global warming: The 52 page report estimates that over the years between now and 2050, a total of one billion people will be displaced from their homes. The figures included 645 million who would migrate because of development projects, and 250 million affected by phenomena linked to global warming such as floods, droughts and famine.
Photo: Refugees International/The Canberra Times, 15/5/2007, p.8/Source: Erisk Net