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Whether regionally within the United States (could you imagine Deep South refugees relocating to San Francisco? ) or from country to country, climate refugees will encounter latent racism and xenophobia:
And all this doesn't even hint at the political complexities Australia will face in a hotter world, including an influx of refugees from poorer climate-ravaged nations. ("If you want to understand Australian politics," says Anthony Kitchener, an Australian entrepreneur, "the first thing you have to understand is our fear of yellow hordes from the north.")
And Australians may encounter these knee-jerk reactions THEMSELVES if their island nation becomes unlivable enough to make the decision to become a climate refugee:
...What Australians call "The Big Dry" began in the early 1990s and quickly grew worse, with a dozen years of below-average rainfall. Drinking-water reservoirs for Melbourne, with a population of 4 million people, were soon depleted. Topsoil from farms started to dry up and blow away – one dust cloud was nearly 1,000 miles long and 250 miles wide.
...Climate models show that the drought is likely to worsen in the coming decades. "When it comes to water, we are living beyond our means in Australia," says Moody. "In the long run, the life we have created here is unsustainable without major changes."
It's a very sobering article to read, regardless of where you stand on the AGW issue:
In 2009, wildfires in Australia torched more than a million acres and killed 173 people. The Murray-Darling Basin, which serves as the country's breadbasket, has suffered a decades-long drought, and what water is left is becoming increasingly salty and unusable, raising the question of whether Australia, long a major food exporter, will be able to feed itself in the coming decades. The oceans are getting warmer and more acidic, leading to the all-but-certain death of the Great Barrier Reef within 40 years. Homes along the Gold Coast are being swept away, koala bears face extinction in the wild, and farmers, their crops shriveled by drought, are shooting themselves in despair.
I remember reading years ago about the spike in suicides amongst farmers deep in the bush with their livelihood drying up and blowing away with the drought. During the Bush administration, one of their closest ideological allies was John Howard, himself a notorious climate change denier much like his counterparts in Washington D.C.. Of course, their denial was purely based on economics, whereas much of the denial in the U.S. is based on ignorance and propaganda.
There will come a day in the not too distant future where even the denialists will be forced to acknowledge reality, the question really is whether it will be too late when that happens. Those responsible will have plenty of money to secure dwindling resources for themselves.
If you lived in a state such as Texas where drought is predicted to last another nine years and possibly break the drought of record, would you relocate and become a climate refugee?
Or would you hope normal weather cycles would return and stick it out? What factors should weigh in on your decision?
DH has a cousin in the Austin area who's throwing in the towel after this summer's horrible drought and wildfires. As soon as he can find work elsewhere, he's uprooting his whole family and taking a loss on selling his house if necessary to get out of the area.................
I think the cousin is being foresighted and should get his family out of there as soon as he can before the major exodus starts.
The Ogallala is almost depleted and not getting replenished, it's estimated it's only got another 5 - 7 years to go, 10 max, before it's completely depleted and once that happens the entire mid-west and south-west, maybe even the south-east, is going to be effected even if there isn't a drought. Add on the current extreme drought happening now, and if that drought continues for another decade - that all spells doom for that whole part of the continent and it could cause an economic and environmental disaster for the entire nation. If there's no water to be had in all those states - no possible agriculture, no livestock, no wildlife - then that's going to see an exodus of people out of that whole part of the continent headed for the north and the north coasts.
There are lots of things that could be done now to start mitigating the whole situation for the future but it isn't looking like most people are ready yet to recognize the water crisis that's looming on the horizon. I guess it will have to get worse before folks get their butts in gear to start up the technology of bringing more water into a parched land.
I think the cousin is being foresighted and should get his family out of there as soon as he can before the major exodus starts.
The Ogallala is almost depleted and not getting replenished, it's estimated it's only got another 5 - 7 years to go, 10 max, before it's completely depleted and once that happens the entire mid-west and south-west, maybe even the south-east, is going to be effected even if there isn't a drought. Add on the current extreme drought happening now, and if that drought continues for another decade - that all spells doom for that whole part of the continent and it could cause an economic and environmental disaster for the entire nation. If there's no water to be had in all those states - no possible agriculture, no livestock, no wildlife - then that's going to see an exodus of people out of that whole part of the continent headed for the north and the north coasts.
There are lots of things that could be done now to start mitigating the whole situation for the future but it isn't looking like most people are ready yet to recognize the water crisis that's looming on the horizon. I guess it will have to get worse before folks get their butts in gear to start up the technology of bringing more water into a parched land.
Yes, my cousin relocated to North Dakota with his family after securing a good job in the oilfield industry driving trucks and operating heavy equipment. They rent out their Texas home through a property management company while waiting for it to sell.
They feel an enormous sense of relief and even joke about having enough time to get "winterized" before the season kicks in.
Last edited by stonecypher5413; 11-15-2011 at 04:02 PM..
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) or from country to country, climate refugees will encounter latent racism and xenophobia:
