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Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

Climate Change Is Key Part of Understanding Migration, GAO Tells Trump Administration

Author:     NEELA BANERJEE
Source:     Inside Climate News
Publication Date:     JAN 19, 2019
 Link: Climate Change Is Key Part of Understanding Migration, GAO Tells Trump Administration
Stephan:   I wrote about this at length a year ago, see War, Climate Change, and Migration. Now others are beginning to catch up. Consider just the first paragraph of this report and you can see how the Trump administration has consciously and deliberately castrated all sensible government planning. "As the movement of refugees strains countries worldwide and becomes fuel for political clashes in the United States, the Trump administration has eliminated guidelines that the government once gave to American diplomats about how to plan for the impact of climate change on migration and global security." What do you think the world will be like when there are, as is projected, 740 million people on the move around the world because of climate change Personally, I think the number will be closer to 1.5 billion, and that the U.S. will have three great internal migrations: away from the coasts, because of too much water; out of the southwest because of heat and lack of water; and, out of the central states because of catastrophic weather events. No preparation at all is being made for these huge population movements.

Climate change refugees

As the movement of refugees strains countries worldwide and becomes fuel for political clashes in the United States, the Trump administration has eliminated guidelines that the government once gave to American diplomats about how to plan for the impact of climate change on migration and global security.

In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office recommended the State Department restore the guidelines so U.S. diplomats are prepared for major population shifts that could destabilize a country or region.

“Without clear guidance, State may miss opportunities to identify and address issues related to climate change as a potential driver of migration,” the report said.

In the report, the GAO, an auditing and analysis arm of Congress, sought to assess the U.S. government’s shifting response to human migration driven by climate change. It highlighted the impact of President Donald Trump’s decision in March 2017 to revoke an Obama-era executive order and presidential memorandum that called on federal agencies to weigh the effects of climate change on international development decisions.

The GAO found that as a […]

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2 Comments

  1. dariel garner on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 6:46 am

    Don’t overlook the effects on the PNW and other northern forests. Southwest forests have under 25 years left, northern forests will follow…rhey already are succumbing to insects. disease and fire..

  2. will on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 2:56 am

    Then what of the trumpers who hate immigrants or others that don’t belong here? Will a collective spirit compassion arise for those “less fortunate” or will it be “circle the wagons”?
    Will it be anger and blame then rebellion and chaos? The dystopian futures are starting to look less like flights of sci-fi fantasy and more like prophecy.