Climate Change Refugees, Coming Soon

The Panama Islands have experienced some of the first instances of what is likely to be a common phenomena—climate change refugees. Various climatic factors combined with consistent sea level rise over recent decades has resulted "in ankle deep water for days at a time," a Treehugger post states.

Climate change refugees pose a significant problem during relocation in regards to what happens to the peoples' autonomy as a community, culture, and even country. It is no small matter to move a country like the Maldives to a whole other area of the world. A recent study by the International Institute of Environment and Development showed that 643 million people are at risk thanks to rising seas.

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While this news is far from uplifting, it serves as tangible evidence of the human cost of climate change. Perhaps examples like this one will serve as an impetus for changing people's personal habits in the developed world, where the threat of rising sea levels is less imminent.

See the full post here.

Photo (cc) Flickr user Elbragon via Treehugger.