Transcript - Catalyst

March 5, 2010
ENVIR 100
Section AF – Julie Combs
Elysia Morrison
Mercedes Morales
Victoria Choe
Introduction: There are fast-growing numbers of people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of environmental problems such as natural
disasters, land degradation due to poor land use, and the effects of climate change. Below we see local examples of the social, ecological and ethical ramifications of
these environmental refugees but the problem is quickly becoming a worldwide epidemic, “The IPCC warns that we may face 150 million environmental refugees by 2050;
U.N.H.C.R. warns of 250 million” (Love, 2010; 1).
Natural Disaster Refugees: Social Aspects of
Hurricane Katrina
Natural disasters are responsible for the creating environmental refugees,
but who is at fault? What can be changed?
Natural disaster refugees are people displaced due to direct effects of natural
hazards: flood, tornado, volcano eruption, earthquake, or landslides. This leads to
financial, environmental, and human losses.
Social implications of Hurricane
Katrina were unprecedented.
As climate change rates increase,
the frequency and intensity of
natural disasters increase as well.
Climate Refugees: Ethical Aspects in Bangladesh
Humans depend on the land to survive. We cut, mine, drain, build on and feed
off Earths resources. This demand on earth’s ecosystem requires a sustainable
approach to remain balanced. Poor land use can lead to degradation that
permanently makes the land unusable.
Climate change effects in Bangladesh directly affected people’s social
and economic stability; therefore, those people were forced to relocate.
Desertification is extreme deterioration of land due to loss of vegetation and soil
moisture. Once exposed the moisture and nutrient rich soil can degrade soil so much
it turns to sand. This results mostly from man-made activities such as agriculture,
animal husbandry and irrigation.
•In New Orleans alone, Katrina
did over $30 billion in damage
to the city.
Figure 1: This photo is an example of a child separated
from her family, and taking care of a younger sibling.
This was the case many of the children left behind after
Hurricane Katrina. Photographer: John T. Jost
SOLUTION: There is no one solution to natural disasters, because they occur
naturally, but we can focus on the areas in which anthropogenic activities have
increased the likelihood of disasters. By building stronger structures that would
withstand disasters and reducing anthropogenic influences .
A climate refugee is a person who is forced to relocate, either to a new
country or to a new location, due to climate change related environmental
disasters. Poor people in developing world have hardly contributed to the
problem of global warming, yet they are likely to suffer the most.
•Bangladesh contributes roughly 0.1% of Carbon emissions in the world
(WRI, 2007).
•Future sea level rise
vary from 8-110 cm by the
end of the century and
the Ganges Delta would
lose 12-18 % of its land
(Michaud, 2008; 113).
China’s Gobi Desert is a prime example for ecological
refugees.
• 2,500 sq km of land turns to desert per year
In Beijing, dust storms from the nearby Gobi
are a regular hazard, while the Gobi’s sand dunes
advance at a rate of fifteen miles a year—and are
now just fifty miles away from the city.
•Due to evacuation, families were
separated.
•Outbreak of health problems such as,
Food poisoning, dehydration, and
spread of various diseases.
Ecological refugees: When Land is No Longer Livable
•Environmental Refugees caused by poor land use
practices displaced as much as 25 million 2000, and
by 2010 its estimated there will likely be
twice as many.
Figure 3: Illustration of
desertification effects on feedback
loops.
SOLUTION: Efforts to reduce desertification include
land-use regulations and restoration projects.
For example, in an effort to slow the expansion of the Gobi desert, China planted the
Green Wall of China, a huge ring of newly-planted forests that the Chinese
government hopes will act as a buffer against further expansion.
Severe rejections from
neighboring countries,
loss of traditions, and
mental instability create
difficulties for climate
refugees to find their
new home.
Figure 5: Illustration of low-laying area in Bangladesh, rice
fields are under water.
SOLUTION: Issue of climate refugees needs to be addressed by both
developing and underdeveloped countries in order to reduce the future
amount of climate refugees and mitigate people gradually adapting to climate
change effects in underdeveloped states.
Case study
Figure 2: This is New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana
and broke several levees causing massive flooding in the area.
Global Environmental Refugees
Figure 4: World Map of Environmental Refugees marked with Case Study locations
Figure 6: Turmoil in Bangladesh during extreme floods.
References
Figure 1. http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/02/27/the-young-and-the-lucky/
Figure 2. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/us_leads_world.php
Figure 3. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/courses/306/feedback.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/courses/306/sahel-desertification.html&usg=__YXBu-DUHHUI1JA7N8QpQHtu6Lk4=&h=1233&w=856&sz=310&hl=en&start=22&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=uNYmRgwoMuihUM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddesertification%2Bfeedback%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1
Figure 4. Fifty million climate refugees by 2010. (2008). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 03:24, March 7, 2010 from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/fifty-million-climate-refugees-by-2010.
Figure 5. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gurumia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Climate-refugees-in-Bangladesh2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gurumia.com/2009/12/11/rising-sea-level-make-threats-20-million-people-in-bangladesh/&usg=__Ooo9PoskafMaucE9vFUCGQBRufQ=&h=341&w=510&sz=36&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=gSmOOW7bMsVSDM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclimate%2Brefugees%2Bin%2BBandladesh%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
Figure 6. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.safecom.org.au/images/bangladesh-climate-turmoil.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.safecom.org.au/climate-humanrights.htm&usg=__tGrllLQsgkc-svMkiUty89M36rM=&h=288&w=400&sz=41&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=9algO3Cx1QcxJM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclimate%2Brefugees%2Bin%2BBandladesh%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
Michaud, L. (2008). Bangladesh. In S. G. Philander (Ed.)Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, (Vol. 1). (pp. 112-114) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. Retrieved February 20, 2010, from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale: http://go.galegroup.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=wash_main
World Resource Institute. (2007). Country Profiles: Bangladesh. Earth Trends: The Environmental Information Portal.
Love, M. (2010). Shelter From the Storm. America. America Press Inc.