People in Low-Lying Pacific Islands are Migrating, reveals Study

It has been known to all that climate change is taking place and it is also causing an irreversible affect on the environment across the world. Recently a team of researchers has found that people living in low-lying areas in Pacific island have started migrating because of the effects of climate change.

The study showed that one in 10 people living in three Pacific nations has migrated in the past decades after climate change led to some irreversible changes in the area around them.

It was found that global warming in those areas led to sea level rise, eroding the land around their homes and destroyed crops and groundwater.

According to a survey by the United Nations University, about 3.2% of the 124,000 inhabitants of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru left their homes and shifted to other countries. The survey showed that another 7.5% of the population of those areas shifted within the country.

Enele Sopoaga, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, in an e-mailed statement said, “Pacific islanders are facing the brunt of climate change impacts and are increasingly finding themselves with few options”.

The findings of the study presented at the UN global warming talks in Paris highlights the risks of climate change and also suggested that the developed countries will now have to deal with the large migration of people from the area largely affected by climate change in coming years.

According to the Center for Climate Change and Security, a research group in Washington, severe drought due to climate change has been blamed for the reason for Syrian conflict. The conflict has led to tens of thousands of refugees seeking shelter in Europe.