Resettlement is already occurring at the rate of some 10 million people a year, said the report's lead author, Alex de Sherbinin. Climate-related resettlement projects are under way in Vietnam, Mozambique, on the Alaskan coast, the Chinese territory of Inner Mongolia and in the South Pacific.
If global temperatures rise, as predicted, by as much as 7.2 degrees F (4 degrees C) this century, "resettlement would become virtually unavoidable in some regions of the world," the scientists wrote in the journal Science late last week.
Warming of this magnitude would have a dramatic impact on water availability, agricultural productivity, ecosystems and sea level - all of which in turn affect where and how humans can live.
Planning for millions of refugees will be challenging, but it is vastly better than the alternative, de Sherbinin said by telephone from The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York.
"Are we just going to respond to the next 911 (emergency) call that comes out, or are we going to actually anticipate some of these things and in so doing hopefully avert the 911 call to some extent and maybe save some money in the process?" he said.
Procedures already in use to resettle victims of such natural disasters as droughts, floods and earthquakes could be used or adapted to prepare for resettlement of climate refugees, the authors said. Read the full report here.
Source: by Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent, Reuters, Chicago Tribune.
