Report in Pakistan Today, Dec 21, 2020
KARACHI: The growing impacts of climate change have already pushed more than 18 million people to migrate within South Asian countries, but that could more than triple if global warming continues on its current path, researchers have warned.
Nearly 63 million people could be forced from their homes by 2050 in the region as rising seas and rivers swallow villages, and drought-hit land no longer supports crops, said ActionAid International and Climate Action Network South Asia in a report.
The projection does not include those who will be forced to flee sudden disasters such as floods and cyclones and so is likely an under-estimate, noted Harjeet Singh, global climate lead at ActionAid.
He said the situation could become “catastrophic”.
Many will head from rural areas to towns and cities in their own countries, in search of work, he said……
The report included examples collected by aid workers of people who have already been hit by worsening climate pressures.
In the arid Tharparkar district, Rajo, 37, and her husband, both labourers, moved to three different places in their area in the last three years to escape hunger caused by severe drought.
She lost a baby because of the heavy lifting in her job and had to borrow money from the landowner to cover medical bills for her family, she told the researchers…….
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/21/climate-change-could-create-millions-of-migrants-in-pakistan-by-2050/
