No Place to Call Home: Climate-induced Migration and Climatic Vulnerability in the American Southeast

Keywords: Migration, Vulnerability, GIS
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 8

Abstract

According to the IPCC fifth assessment report climatic risk includes weather and climate hazards, exposure of people to the hazards, and the vulnerability of exposed individuals. Climatic vulnerability deals with anthropogenic climate change and its influence on extreme weather events, natural hazards, and other ways of life. There is growing concern about extreme environmental events, including their frequency, severity, and the damage that they cause to life, property, and economic activity in the American Southeast. This interest is fueled in part by a series of high-profile weather-related disasters in the past decade including floods, hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves. Migration, especially because of natural hazards, is a complex, multidimensional process that varies greatly over space and time. The act of migration is a natural human response to climatic pressures and is a major adaptation measure people will use in response to climate change. In 2018, a World Bank report on the impact of climate change on migration estimated that by 2050 climate change could force more than 143 million people to move within their countries. In the Southeast, those on the coast, rural areas, marginalized and communities of color are currently at significant risk for displacement. The goal of this research is to first, better understand where individuals have migrated to in response to hazardous weather events; and second, how spatiotemporal trends in vulnerability may influence a community’s ability to adapt and respond to hazardous weather.