Natural disasters have already forced 7 million people from their homes in 2019. Experts expect the number to triple by the end of the year as mass displacement becomes "the norm."
Image: AFP/M.U. Zaman
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Nearly 11 million people were driven from their homes in the first half of 2019, 7 million of them because of natural catastrophes like cyclones and floods. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), an independent data monitoring organization set up by the Norwegian Refugee Council, published the figures in their mid-year report released Thursday.
The number of displacements will triple to 22 million by the end of the year, according to IDMC estimates, making 2019 one of the worst years on record. Typically there is a rise in extreme weather towards the end of the year.
That the majority have been caused by natural catastrophes suggests that displacements are becoming the new norm.
"These figures are alarmingly high, particularly as we are only half way through the year. They show that the causes of conflict and inequality are not being addressed, and that displacement is creating cyclical patterns of crisis and vulnerability,” said Alexandra Bilak, IDMC's director, in a press release.
The report points to the fallout from catastrophes like Cyclone Fani and Cyclone Ida and mass flooding in Iran as examples of extreme weather that have led to large-scale displacement. More than 3.4 million people fled their homes as part of planned evacuations in the lead-up to Cyclone Fani.
High levels of displacement can, in certain cases, represent success, the report clarifies. While homes were lost, adequate evacuation procedures allowed the displaced to survive Cyclone Fani and return after the storm had passed.
Conflict and violence also drove 3.8 million people from their homes this year. This type of displacement took place most frequently in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Yemen.
"The international community cannot continue to ignore internally displaced people,” said Bilak. She calls for support of governmental efforts to help displaced people, foster peace, and curb the speed and effects of climate. "Only then will we be able to reduce the upheaval, trauma and impoverishment that many millions of people suffer each year, and reverse the trends laid out in this report.”
Cities in climate crisis
Densely populated urban areas can intensify rising temperatures, or find their foundations crumbling as rising seas creep in. DW looks at the impact the climate crisis is having on global metropolises.
Image: Reuters/R. Pasternak
Paris: Sweltering microclimate
France hit record temperatures this summer, and the urban heat island effect means cities are particularly hot. While vegetation releases water into the atmosphere, cooling things down, concrete and asphalt trap heat. During a heat wave, Paris can be 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding countryside. Pollution also builds up in slow-moving summer air — another reason urban heat waves can kill.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Yalcin
New Orleans: In the eye of the storm
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore apart one of America's most iconic cultural heartlands. Even though it's rebuilt, New Orleans has been battered again and again by powerful storms. A government report last year said the US southeast was "exceptionally vulnerable to sea-level rise, extreme heat events, hurricanes and decreased water availability." Trump's response? "I don’t believe it."
Image: J. Sullivan/Getty Images
Chennai: No more water
This year India's monsoon was the second driest in 65 years, leaving 44% of the country suffering from drought. In Chennai, things have become desperate: its main reservoir has dried up, residents are queuing for hours at pumps, water is being trucked in and hospitals are under pressure. As the planet heats up, more and more cities could run out of water.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Parthibhan
Siberia: Cities on thin ice
Arctic temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth. This is taking its toll on cities in Russia's far north, as the permafrost beneath building foundations begins to melt. Cities like Norilsk and Yakutsk are already seeing serious subsidence, and scientists expect their infrastructure to become at least 25% less stable by mid-century.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Antonov
Jakarta: Sinking into the sea
Rising seas threaten coastal cities the world over, but Jakarta, with 13 rivers, suffers more floods than most. Limited access to water means residents pump it from underground aquifers, causing subsidence. By 2050, 95% of North Jakarta could be submerged. Indonesia is building the world's biggest seawall to protect its capital, but that could leave thousands of fishermen without homes or income.
Image: Getty Images/E. Wray
Dhaka: Climate refugees
Some 28% of the population of Bangladesh lives on the coast, and high tides are rising 10 times faster than the global average. In 2018, natural disasters displaced 78,000 people, with riverbank erosion — expected to increase as Himalayan ice melts — moving many more. Already one of the world's most densely populated cities, the capital of Dhaka takes in 1,000 new migrants every day.
