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Global warming could lead to increased immigration
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According to a new a report, global warming may have some interesting, unexpected effects on human migration patterns.
A new report by scientists at Princeton University has predicted that nearly 7 million additional Mexican emigrants could enter the U.S. by 2080, due to reduced crop yields brought on by a hotter, drier climate, National Geographic reports.
The study utilized data on both Mexican emigration and crop yields between 1995 and 2005 to predict how climate change would affect the cross-border movement of different cultures. For each decade, the computer model found that a 10-percent reduction in crop yield resulted in a 2-percent increase in Mexicans emigrating to the U.S.
However, some feel the study is too simple – it omits key economic and political factors that could have an effect on the future. Barry Smit, a climate-impact scientist at the University of Guelph in Canada, told the magazine the study’s author had to make some "heroic assumptions" to produce these findings.
Despite these limitations, Smit still concluded the study could help the government begin considering how future "eco-migrants" created by global warming could affect the nation and what measures need to begin to be taken to relieve future pressure.
Robert McLerman, a geographer who studies climate migration at the University of Ottawa, told National Geographic the research shows that developed nations could and should be doing more to help their poorer neighbors. The U.S., for example, could work with Mexican officials to develop new, non-agricultural employment opportunities in rural areas.
Global warming is threatening local crops worldwide. A new report warns that a slight increase in temperature could have devastating effects on Uganda, destroying the country’s entire coffee crop and half of its revenue. According to National Geographic, coffee crops are maturing slower due to an increase in droughts and rain falling at the wrong times.
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