By: Maddie Miele
Edited By: Andrew Bongiovanni
Introduction
Climate migration will become a major threat to the United States. It is not hyperbole to say people are going to be fleeing their homes from climate disasters. Some research has shown that this is already occurring. A study by the First Street Foundation, a research firm that studies climate threats to housing, “found that roughly 3.2 million Americans have already migrated, many over short distances, out of flood zones, such as low-lying parts of Staten Island, Miami and Galveston, Texas.”1 This is a crisis that requires much more attention to help facilitate life-saving resources to communities. The United States needs a comprehensive framework and strategies to provide protections for climate migrants. Frequently, an extreme weather event happens, communities are overwhelmed, officials are not prepared to act accordingly, and avoidable tragedies ensue. As disasters become more frequent, climate migration will escalate.2 This paper will analyze current climate policies, and the strategies needed to assist with climate migration in the United States.
Background
Climate migration refers to “the movement of a person or groups of people who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment due to climate change, are obliged to leave their habitual place of residence, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move within their country or abroad.”3 A broad definition, like this, gives the ability to include many diverse circumstances due to the unpredictability of environmental threats. In the United States, these threats include cold wave events, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, heatwaves and droughts.4 According to the NOAA Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in 2023, there were 28 separate climate disasters costing the United States a historic one-billion dollars in damage.5
A ProPublica article written by Abrahm Lustgarten, an award-winning investigative reporter on global migration, said that “over the next thirty years, 7.5 million people are projected to leave those perennially flooded zones [in the United States].6 Movement from high-risk areas to lower-risk zones like the Midwest or Northeast will become more common as climate migration increases in the coming decades. However, a New York Times analysis from September 2024, explained that currently Americans tend to still move into disaster-prone areas like Florida, Arizona, California, Texas and the Carolinas.7 These are examples of states experiencing different climate effects like dangerous record-high temperatures, hurricanes and wildfires. With more movement to these areas, this has increased people’s exposure to climate disasters. It gives these extreme weather events “more chances to hit populated areas, a trend scientists call ‘the expanding bull-eye’s effect.’”8
Regarding the decision to relocate, economic concerns usually outweigh climate change. People are seeking better job opportunities, a cheaper cost of living, family proximity, or are enticed by the warm weather.9 Many factors go into the reasoning to relocate and in the United States; environmental threats are not high up on the list. However, systemic issues frequently act as a force multiplier for the economic factors, increasing the salience of these factors. Individuals who move to these areas should not be viewed as ignorant. Instead, the lens needs to be repositioned to analyze what is making an influx of people move to these locations, and why. The inequalities with access to credible environmental information creates a large barrier for low-income communities. An example of this is the Flint Water Crisis. The Flint residents, predominantly low-income and Black, were not informed about lead contamination in their water until long after the crisis began. This “environmental injustice that endangered families for 18 months was prolonged because the [city and state of Michigan] cheated on water tests, was hostile to outside researchers sounding the alarm, and betrayed the public’s trust by repeatedly insisting the brown, smelly, lead-laden water was safe to consume.”10
Environmental advocates warn that communities of color, Indigenous people, low-income communities and children are disproportionately vulnerable to changing climate conditions and have the fewest resources to prepare for and recover from extreme weather events.11 The government must recognize their responsibility to support these communities in the wake of the growing climate crisis.
Preparing for Migration
Climate migration is a complex phenomenon for the policy sector to digest. Environmental threats can look vastly different based on the location––ranging from rising sea levels in Florida, to wildfires in California, to desertification in Arizona. This makes it challenging to adapt the country towards a path of resilience. There are initiatives that are well suited to help improve the country’s current dismal performance.12 A new framework for the United States is necessary to address the impact climate change has on humans. There must be action taken to slow the effects of climate change and build adaptive capacity to address climate migration. First, there needs to be a sufficient understanding within the policy sector of the direct connection between the climate crisis and migration. One way of doing this is by better understanding the data. Policymakers and relevant government personnel cannot shy away from the numbers, nor the predictions for the future in which they depict. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center estimated that “21.5 million people per year on average over the past decade have had to flee their homes due to storms, floods, wildfires, droughts, and other weather events. This represents nearly three times more than those internally displaced due to conflict and nearly nine times more than those who apply for asylum in other countries due to a fear of persecution at home.” Evidently, the data authenticates that climate migration is growing increasingly more severe.
It is often difficult to attribute one’s dominant reason for migrating to climate change. As stated previously, there are a wide range of reasons for people to relocate. With that, existing legal and governmental systems struggle to recognize or provide protections specifically for climate migrants. The United States is an example of the unwillingness or inability to address this challenge. The Center for Strategic and International Studies explains that “under current U.S. immigration law, people displaced by natural disasters and environmental degradation…have traditionally not been considered eligible for protection as refugees.”13 This creates the ongoing issue of climate migrants being overlooked. Even though it is difficult to pinpoint climate change as the sole cause for migrating, it should still be recognized in U.S. immigration law, as within immigration law, climate migrants can be considered members of a “particular social group.”14 The United States needs to showcase the importance and feasibility of accommodating climate migrants through proactive U.S. immigration policy.
In 2023, President Biden created the country’s first-ever National Climate Resilience Framework. It addresses three actions: (1) Assess Climate-Related Threats and Opportunities, (2) Partner for an Integrated Approach, and (3) Invest in Collective Resilience.15 This is a historic step, but it remains to be seen how it will be implemented. Strategies are frequently implemented, but regressive infrastructure choices continue to be made. There are still large buildings being built on the shorelines across the country.16 This significantly disrupts the coastline which can lead to beach erosion and increases vulnerability to storm surges. Additionally, in 2022, the Biden Administration approved the Willow Project in Alaska, which “could extract more than 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years.”17 The contradiction of Biden’s action has created friction with his climate goals. This is why environmental awareness and education are imperative.
Preparing for migration in the face of climate change is a multifaceted challenge that requires attention and long-term commitment. While progress has been made, like the establishment of the National Climate Resilience Framework, much work remains to be done to ensure that climate migrants are protected and supported. The United States must prioritize aligning infrastructure development, immigration policies, and environmental strategies to address the realities of climate migration. This includes integrating climate migration into legal frameworks, investing in environmental awareness, and committing to sustainable practices that reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Without decisive and cohesive action, the country risks perpetuating a cycle of unpreparedness that amplifies the vulnerabilities of those most affected by climate change.
Conclusion
As the climate crisis continues to emerge as an unavoidable challenge, it is evident that the United States must embrace a transformative approach to policy and adaptation. The country must take substantial steps to protect communities. The current gaps in infrastructure, climate migration protections, and resource allocation leave vulnerable populations at risk and the United States unprepared for the escalating impacts of climate change. Addressing this crisis requires bold action: crafting comprehensive policies that recognize climate migrants, implementing climate resilience practices, and investing in education and equitable access to information. The United States must recognize that overlooking climate migration will not nullify the issue. They have the opportunity to lead by example. However, this will only be achieved through collaboration and a commitment to prioritizing the well-being of all communities. Decisive action now can ensure budding generations a more sustainable and equitable future.
Works Cited
1. Lustgarten, Abrahm. 2024. “Who will care for Americans left behind by Climate Migration?.” ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-migration-hurricane-helene
2. Robustelli, Tim, Helen Bonnyman, and Yuliya Panfil. 2024. “Climate Change Will Drive Domestic Migration across the United States.” New America. https://www.newamerica.org/future-land-housing/reports/climate-migrations-impact-on-housing-security/climate-change-will-drive-domestic-migration-across-the-united-states/
3. “Environmental migration: IOM, UN Migration: Environmental Migration Portal.” IOM, UN Migration | Environmental Migration Portal. n.d. https://environmentalmigration.iom.int/environmental-migration
4. Smith, Adam. 2024. “2023: A Historic Year of U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters.” NOAA Climate.gov. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2023-historic-year-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters
5. Smith. 2024. “2023: A Historic Year of U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters.”
6. Lustgarten. 2024. “Who will care for Americans left behind by Climate Migration?.
7. Rojanasakul, Mira, and Popovich, Nadja. 2024. “Where Americans have been moving into disaster-prone areas.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/30/climate/americans-moving-hurricane-wildfire-risk.html
8. Rojanasakul and Popovich. 2024. “Where Americans have been moving into disaster-prone areas.”
9. Ibid.
10. Roy, Siddhartha. n.d. “The hand-in-hand spread of mistrust and misinformation in Flint.” American Scientist. https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-hand-in-hand-spread-of-mistrust-and-misinformation-in-flint
11. Berberian, Alique, Gonzalez, David, and Cushing, Lara. 2022. “Racial disparities in climate change-related health effects in the United States.” Current environmental health reports. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9363288/#:~:text=Environmental%20and%20climate%20justice%20advocates,extreme%20weather%20events%20%5B1%5D.
12. Gao, Jun. 2023. “Believe It or Not, There’s a Positive Side to the Climate Change Story.” World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/how-we-work/pacific-support/news/commentaries/believe-it-or-not–there-s-a-positive-side-to-the-climate-change-story
13. Yayboke, Erol, Staguhn, Janina, Houser, Trevor, and Salma, Tani. 2020. “A new framework for U.S. leadership on climate migration.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/new-framework-us-leadership-climate-migration
14. Yayboke et al. 2020. “A new framework for U.S. leadership on climate migration.”
15. The United States Government. 2024. “A U.S. framework for Climate Resilience and Security.” The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/09/20/a-u-s-framework-for-climate-resilience-and-security/
16. YCC Team. 2019. “One Reason Why Cities Keep Building in Flood-Prone Coastal Areas.” Yale Climate Connections. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/11/one-reason-why-cities-keep-building-in-flood-prone-coastal-areas/
17. Irfan, Umair. 2024. “Joe Biden’s enormous, contradictory, and fragile climate legacy.” Vox. https://www.vox.com/climate/362478/joe-biden-climate-change-legacy
