If it affects some, it affects us all

In my previous post, I touched on the topic of “climate gentrification” in Miami, where the more affluent are leaving the vulnerable low-lying beach areas and moving to somewhat higher elevations inland, displacing less affluent neighborhoods in the process.  The same phenomenon is repeating itself in other parts of the country (and the world) and for a variety of climate-related reasons.  In Arizona, for example, as a September 2018 article points out, those that can afford it are leaving (permanently or during the summer months) the southern population centers of Tucson and Phoenix for the higher (and cooler) spots in the north.  

The social and economic impacts of natural disasters can be significant and far-reaching, with effects felt well beyond the borders of affected countries.  One somewhat disturbing example is the link between such events and human trafficking, one of the most heinous of offenses people inflict on each other.  In what I would consider a landmark piece on the topic, Alice Hillof the Hoover Institution, discusses what she calls a “disastrous relationship” between “human trafficking and climate change.”  She writes:

A warming world will almost certainly bring more disasters that result in greater displacement of people from their homes and livelihoods. This, in turn, puts them at greater risk of human trafficking... International organizations “estimate that about 25 million people are victims” of human trafficking in the world. In all likelihood, those numbers will grow due in part to the increasing effects of climate change. 

Climate change leads to more disasters like increased flooding from sea-level rise and extreme precipitation — as well as more intense storms, wildfires, and droughts. It also forces people to move. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, climate change impacts “almost certainly will increase the number of displaced people” and in the next 20 years could cause unprecedented patterns of global migration.

Research has repeatedly shown that “disasters exacerbate the root causes of human trafficking, including poverty and lack of viable livelihoods.” Disasters can “instantly plunge those without safety nets into poverty,” making them economically and emotionally vulnerable and thus potential prey for traffickers. In other words, climate change-exacerbated disasters threaten to impoverish and displace many millions of people across the globe, therefore heightening their vulnerability to trafficking.

The article illustrates the problem with examples following climate-related events, and also notes the horrendous human tragedy that follows non-climate events like the Haitian earthquake.  It outlines a number of recommendations related to the problem and I’d highly recommend it.  

Earlier this year, Ms. Hill also joined colleagues in composing a piece for the Pacific Council on International Policy.  The article, titled Building Coastal Resiliencefor Greater U.S. Security, expands this notion of social and economic impacts by explaining that:

Environmental risks have multiple dimensions and are rarely single-source problems. The economic status of individual community members and their social roles in society, for instance, can influence the way climate change affects their livelihoods, health, and well-being. Overarching trends in population growth, development, and migration interact with environmental change more severely within concentrated coastal areas, which are inherently fragile and disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters.

Climate initiatives should seek to mitigate these multifaceted environmental risks to protect lives and livelihoods and to avoid maladaptation. Conflict prevention and gender equality concerns, for example, should be integrated into climate adaptation strategies to more effectively reduce underlying sources of vulnerability, diversify livelihoods, reduce insecurity, and empower coastal communities to prepare, respond, and recover.

In my opinion, the most critical “take away” from all this is that there are multiple reasons for building resilience against natural disasters in our communities and nations.  Loss of life is always the preeminent concern, but the quality of life and the preservation of human dignity is equally worthy of our investment of time and funds.   

Even more important, these impacts and the concern we have for those impacted by climatic, geologic and other events, cross political borders and lines of economic strata.  When one group of us are victims, we are all victims in a way; and whether we are directly able to administer aid or not, we should all feel the loss to our human family and act accordingly.

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Photo source here (businesses lost following Hurricane Michael in 2018)