It can take years or even decades for communities to recover from hurricanes. Latin America is still reeling from hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit two weeks apart in 2020.
According to The Loss and Damage Collaboration, Hurricane Iota affected 7 million people. On the Colombian islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina, Iota reportedly destroyed 98% of the infrastructure.
Colombia and Honduras had been dealing with the effects of rising temperatures before the storms hit, including other hurricanes, droughts, floods, and rising sea levels.
What's happening?
Fish used to be a food source, but fishing has become more difficult.
Dagoberto Majano from Honduras blames warming temperatures for this. "Within the climatic situation, there has been a shortage of fish because the sea has warmed a lot, the waters warm, and the species try to go to the depths further away," he said, per The Loss and Damage Collaboration.
Agriculture is also not providing for these communities like it used to, forcing people to migrate.
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Honduras resident Delvis Velázquez Cardenas said that food became more expensive in the drier weather. This forced her husband to move to the U.S. to find work. That was a common consequence.
People also lose their homes. Francis Azucena Cruz told The Loss and Damage Collaboration: "I had a house. ... Now it is at the bottom of the sea."
Why is climate migration concerning?
According to Molly Wood, a journalist and tech investor, warming temperatures are like steroids for weather. These storms were already going to happen, but the warmer weather intensifies them.
As storms become more unpredictable and dangerous, more people will be forced from their homes. It's not just Latin America seeing climate migration. In the U.S. between 2000 and 2022, about 3.2 million people moved or were displaced because of flooding risks.
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What's being done about climate migration?
To understand what's happening, you should explore critical climate issues to find solutions. One way to reduce climate migration is to reduce dirty energy use, such as by installing solar panels with a battery on your home.
Solar panels don't produce polluting gases, so they cut down on what's emitted into the atmosphere. They also make your home more resilient in extreme weather events since you won't have to rely on the grid during power outages.
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