https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2024/05/climate-refugees-anthology-2.html
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
CLIMATE REFUGEES ANTHOLOGY #1 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2022/11/omni-climate-refugees-anthology-1.html
TEMPERATURE, HEAT, CLIMATE CATASTROPHE Anthology #3, August 29, 2020.
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/08/omni-temperature-heat-climate.html
UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification www.unccd.int
JUNE 17, 2021. https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2021/06/omni-celebrates-june-17-2021-unccd.html
UN World Water Day, March 22
UN World Oceans Day, June 8
UN World Refugee Day, June 20
CONTENTS #2
ARKANSAS
Two Aspects of Growth
USA
Megadrought in US West
Katrina’s Climate Crimes
GLOBAL
The Crisis from 2007
Climate Refugees in the Twenty-First Century (book)
IPCC’s Latest Assessment, Slow-Motion Apocalypse
Pacific Islands Disappearing
350.org Report, Global Climate Strike
Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security (book)
Trump v. Refugees
SOLUTIONS
Reparations
Increase Equality, Decrease Northern Consumption (book)
United Nations
SOURCES
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Center for American Progess Action
China Environment News
Christian AidFairchild and Weinrub(book)
Green Left
Indiana UP
Inside Climate News
KUAF
Monthly Review, mronline.org
Progressive Magazine
350.org
TomDispatch
United Nations
TEXTS
ARKANSAS
Two facets of the multifarious refugee debate in NWA from 2018 to 2024 that has not yet grasped the REFUGEE future.
*Headlines from the KUAF Ozarks at Large
Anxiety Over High Density as Development Pressure Grows in NWA May 28, 2018
One person’s appropriate infill development for a growing region is another person’s anxiety about changing neighborhoods. Residents in Fayetteville’s Parksdale neighborhood recently found out their portion of the city was zoned for multi-family residential development after a three-story duplex went up in the area. They have started a petition to downgrade the zoning in the neighborhood to keep most of the development to single-family homes and two-story structures.
“Northwest Arkansas says send in the immigrants.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (August 12, 2024).
A decline in foreign workers could spell trouble for continued economic expansion in Northwest Arkansas. Continue reading…
USA
“The parched West is heading into a global warming-fueled megadrought that could last for centuries.” mronline.org (4-19-20).
Warmer temperatures and shifting storm tracks are drying up vast stretches of land in North and South America. | more…
Originally published: Inside Climate News on April 16, 2020 by Bob Berwyn (more by Inside Climate News) | (Posted Apr 18, 2020). Climate Change, Environment, GeographyAmericasNewswire [This website no longer exists. Nor does the You Tube interview of the author, or the Wikipedia entry. The disappearance of the internet/worldwide web record seems to be a global disaster little acknowledged. –Dick]
The American West is well on its way into one of the worst megadroughts on record, a new study warns, a dry period that could last for centuries and spread from Oregon and Montana, through the Four Corners and into West Texas and northern Mexico.
Several other megadroughts, generally defined as dry periods that last 20 years or more, have been documented in the West going back to about 800 A.D. In the study, the researchers, using an extensive tree-ring history, compared recent climate data with conditions during the historic megadroughts.
They found that in this century, global warming is tipping the climate scale toward an unwelcome rerun, with dry conditions persisting far longer than at any other time since Europeans colonized and developed the region. The study was published online Thursday and appears in the April 17 issue of the journal Science.
Human-caused global warming is responsible for about half the severity of the emerging megadrought in western North America, said Jason Smerdon, a Columbia University climate researcher and a co-author of the new research.
“What we’ve identified as the culprit is the increased drying from the warming. The reality is that the drying from global warming is going to continue,” he said.
We’re on a trajectory in keeping with the worst megadroughts of the past millennia. . . .MORE click on title
Katrina’s Legacy: Genocidal Climate Crimes is the culmination of Eric Mann’s ten- year exploration and organizing in support of the Black Nation in New Orleans. It is based on his revolutionary theory and practice at the intersection of the Black, Third World, and Climate Justice revolutions.
The Legacy Of Katrina – Center for American Progress Action
https://www.americanprogressaction.org/progress-reports/the-legacy-of-katrina
Aug 28, 2015 – Tomorrow marks ten years since Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in New Orleans. The storm flattened entire communities, took the lives of 1,800 …
Katrina’s Legacy: White Racism and Black Reconstruction in New …
Katrina’s Legacy: White Racism and Black Reconstruction in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast [Eric Mann
Katrina’s Legacy: Still homeless after New Orleans hurricane hell
Lasting Legacy of JP2 by Katrina Zeno Katrina Zeno YouTube – Aug 23, 2013
Broken Levees, Broken Lives: Katrina’s Healthcare Legacy Calnurses YouTube – Aug 26, 2008
GLOBAL
From 2007 to present.
Human Tide: the real migration crisis. Christian Aid report May 2007.
CONTENTS
The forced migration crisis 4 Internal displacement: the hidden crisis 10 Climate change: outlook bleak 22 Colombia: conflict and commerce 30 Burma: war, dams and power 36 Mali: heat, dust and climate change 41 Recommendations 46
A world struggling to cope with the largest enforced movement of people in its history. Tens of millions displaced, living in parlous conditions – their very futures threatened by the enormity of the problem. That was the dire situation at the end of the Second World War, and Christian Aid – known at the time as Christian Reconstruction in Europe – was founded to help address it. Then, 50 years ago, came the first Christian Aid Week – a mass mobilisation of supporters to raise funds for the continuing refugee crisis in Europe and beyond. The roots of the organisation run deep into the tragedy of forced migration. So it is with some authority that we now issue a stark warning about accelerating rates of displacement in the 21st century. As the effects of climate change join and exacerbate the conflicts, natural disasters and development projects that drive displacement, we fear that an emerging migration crisis will spiral out of control. Unless urgent action is taken, it threatens to dwarf even that faced by the war ravaged world all those decades ago. Christian Aid predicts that, on current trends, a further 1 billion people will be forced from their homes between now and 2050. We believe forced migration is the most urgent threat facing poor people in developing countries. The time for action is now.
A member of OMNI’s Climate Book Forum, Alberto Torres, introduced us to the following superlative and highly significant book, as far as I know the first book to treat comprehensively the full scope of climate refugees. The Preface provides us with a Manifesto. The chapters take us through the world as it is in Refugeedom! –D
| Description Author Bio Reviews Customer Reviews Table of Contents Related Links “Global climate change and global refugee crises will soon become inextricably interlinked. A new tsunami of climate refugees flows across the earth. We are now at the moment of truth.” Climate change is with us and we need to think about the next big disturbing idea – the potentially disastrous consequences of massive numbers of environmental refugees at large on the planet. In 2020 the United Nations projects that we will have 50 million environmental refugees mostly from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. How will people be relocated and settled? Is it possible to offer environmental refugees temporary or permanent asylum? Will these refugees have any collective rights in the new areas they inhabit? And lastly, who will pay the costs of all the affected countries during the process of resettlement? Environmental refugees are a problem beyond the scope of a single country or agency.”John R. Wennersten and Denise Robbins, from the book. [At every government level we should be preparing for refugees, not by walls and guns, but by kindness and generosity. The governments can rely on the churches, united by the Golden Rule, and Jesus was a refugee who devoted his life to the poor and downtrodden. Fayetteville has started a fund for people fleeing wars and warming; to contribute contact Susan Norton, snorton@fayetteville-ar.gov –D] |
Tom Engelhardt. “Our Not-So-Slow-Motion Apocalypse. My Extreme World,And (Un)Welcome to It.” POSTED ON AUGUST 12, 2021. BY TOM ENGELHARDT.
[This essay summarizes the latest conclusions of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We might save our civilization if we first face the full reality, and then do what that reality compels us to do. One of the major consequences of the climate catastrophe, already affecting millions of people, is refugees. The numerous advantages of NWA will be attractive to the wealthy as well as to the desperate, and Fayetteville should be preparing to welcome them peacefully and justly. Dick Bennett, Prof. Emer. UAF, Founder OMNI.]
“Climate Change and the Pacific Islands: ‘When the land disappears, we will all disappear’.” Editor. Mronline.org (7-21-21).
Originally published: Green Left on July 13, 2021 by Susan Price (more by Green Left) | (Posted Jul 20, 2021)
Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, HealthAustralasia, Australia, New ZealandNewswirePacific Islands
Another method rich countries are using to downplay the severity of climate change is to ignore its consequences, or try and pass them off as “natural” events.
Climate change is already leading to rising sea levels, threatening island and coastal communities and devastating food security and access to fresh water. Long-term drought and changes in weather patterns are causing hunger and destroying farming land.
By the middle of the century, it is estimated that as many as 200 million people worldwide may be displaced as a result.
Yet, rich countries have responded to this humanitarian disaster with lock-down and lock-up measures to try and stop vulnerable people trying to flee.
The poorest nations with the least resources–which have had the least to do with the climate emergency–are being left to deal with humanitarian problems. . . .MORE click on title
[What do you think of this argument? Betsy Hartmann. The America Syndrome. 2017. P. 218. A major theme is the danger of exaggerating harmful effects of climate change because it intensifies economic and military interests. But who is exaggerating? –D]
“’I’m fighting for our future. Will you join me?’”
Xiye Bastida – Fridays for the Future NYC, and 350.org Sep 3, 2019. to me 9-9-19
Dick,
My name is Xiye Bastida and I am a 17-year-old Climate Justice Activist. Four years ago I had to leave my home in San Pedro Tultepec, Mexico. Unprecedented rainfall flooded my town, which prevented me from going to school. The climate crisis forced my family to choose, at 13, between staying at home or live in a healthier environment. In New York City I have rallied, lobbied, and testified at City Hall to protect our livelihoods. I’ve joined with youth around the world walking out of class to demand real leadership and accountability from our elected officials. But it’s not enough for the youth to demand change on our own. We need everyone to stand up and say no, we will not stand by and let any more homes be destroyed — like we’ve just seen in the Bahamas in the last 24 hours.
We need everyone to join us on September 20th for the Global Climate Strike. There are hundreds of Climate Strike events being planned across the country. Click here to find one near you — or host one yourself.
In 2017 there were over 18 million climate refugees1. If we don’t do anything by 2050, there will be hundreds of millions of people2 forced, like me, to leave their homes by increasingly devastating storms, floods, fires and heat waves.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We know what the solutions are — we just have to implement them. The problem is that governments have chosen to listen to fossil fuel billionaires rather than protect their people. But we, by acting together, have the power to take our future back. . . .
Xiye Bastida – Fridays for the Future NYC
1 – Climate change and disaster displacement, UNHCR.
2 – “143 Million People May Soon Become Climate Migrants,” National Geographic.350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and text 350 to 83224 to get important mobile action alerts. Become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing. Looking for other ways to get involved? Check out our map to see if there’s a local 350 group or event near you. [These 2019 links still function. –D]
Todd Miller. Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security.2017.
Millions of climate refugees and the vicious response of wealthy governments with their militarized borders. Miller calls instead for “cross-border solidarity.”
Table of Contents and First Chapter from
(PDF 495 KB) Print Email this page
·RECIPIENT OF THE 2018 IZZY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
“Every so often a book comes along that can dramatically change, or elevate, one’s thinking about a global problem. Much like Naomi Klein’s books, Todd Miller’s Storming the Wall is such a book and deserves far more attention and discussion.”––Izzy Award Judges, Ithaca College
“A galvanizing forecast of global warming’s endgame and a powerful indictment of America’s current stance.”––Kirkus Reviews
As global warming accelerates, droughts last longer, floods rise higher, and super-storms become more frequent. With increasing numbers of people on the move as a result, the business of containing them––border fortification––is booming. In Storming the Wall, Todd Miller travels around the world to connect the dots between climate-ravaged communities, the corporations cashing in on border militarization, and emerging movements for environmental justice and sustainability. Reporting from the flashpoints of climate clashes, and from likely sites of futures battles, Miller chronicles a growing system of militarized divisions between the rich and the poor, the environmentally secure and the environmentally exposed. Stories of crisis, greed and violence are juxtaposed with powerful examples of solidarity and hope in this urgent and timely message from the frontlines of the post-Paris Agreement era.
“Nothing will test human institutions like climate change in this century––as this book makes crystal clear, people on the move from rising waters, spreading deserts, and endless storms could profoundly destabilize our civilizations unless we seize the chance to reimagine our relationships to each other. This is no drill, but it is a test, and it will be graded pass-fail”––Bill McKibben, author Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, founder 350.org
List”
Photo by Roberto Neumiller, Also found in the book Countdown by Alan Weisman
TRUMP v. REFUGEES
Dick,
The screams of immigrant children being ripped from their parents’ arms at the border are some of the most heartbreaking sounds I’ve ever heard. It’s even more heartbreaking when I think about how the deepening climate crisis will force millions more to leave their homes in the coming years. Punishing those who seek safety will never be the solution.
A few days ago, Trump signed an executive order to begin putting families in detention centers together instead. But detaining entire families is not a solution, it’s a jail sentence — so it’s more important than ever to come together and fight Trump’s cruelty. This Saturday, people across the country are taking action to stand with immigrant families and against Trump’s cruel “zero tolerance” policy. Find an action near you here.
The news this week has shown just how low Trump and his allies will sink to push their hateful agenda. And as a climate movement, we can’t afford to stand idly by. All our fights for justice are connected — and this is a moment to stand up for what’s right. Like you, I’m outraged and devastated — but we’re not powerless. If we stand together and keep up the pressure, our people power can win justice and freedom for immigrant families — and send a clear message that this kind of cruelty is not what we the people stand for.
There is no climate justice without immigration justice. In just the last ten years, catastrophic weather disasters have displaced about 24 million people every year.1 As climate change worsens, those numbers will only grow.2 Justice means supporting humane policies that allow the most vulnerable, including families and children, to find safe haven.
And around the world, the people hit hardest by the impacts of the climate crisis continue to be those who have done the least to cause it: Indigenous Peoples, people of color and poor people, are those most often displaced and forced to migrate.
Climate justice means standing first and foremost with communities on the frontlines. And today’s Supreme Court decision to uphold Trump’s cruel Muslim ban makes it clearer than ever that immigrant communities are under attack — and the climate movement needs to stand with immigrants right now.
See you in the streets on Saturday. Wear white. In solidarity,
Natalia, 350.org
Sources:
[1] NPR: “The Refugees The World Barely Pays Attention To”
[2] ReliefWeb: “Climate Migrants Might Reach One Billion by 2050”
350.org is building a global climte movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and text 350 to 83224 to get important mobile action alerts. Become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing.
SOLUTIONS
CENTRAL AMERICAN CLIMATE REFUGEES DESERVE REPARATIONS SUPPORT FROM USA
Maeve Higgins. “Paying Our Debts to the World.” The Progressive (Aug.Sept. 2019). Discusses This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta, a case for immigration as a form of reparations as illustrated by the northern triangle of Central America composed of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with their poverty, corruption, high homicide rates, and unprecedented emigration. The US should offer support to the fleeing people because the US created the climate chaos, especially drought, deforestation, land degradation, crop loss, rising sea levels, El Nino events, and the atrocious violence during Reagan’s 1980s that are pushing these Central Americans to seek a better life.
MoreDECREASE INEQUALITY AND NORTHERN CONSUMPTION
“To eradicate global poverty and cut global carbon emissions, rich nations must change their consumption patterns.”
Editor. Mronline.org (2-24-22).
Originally published: China Environment News on February 20, 2022 by Ayesha Tandon (more by China Environment News) (Posted Feb 23, 2022).
Climate Change, Environment, Imperialism, InequalityGlobalNewswirePoverty
Sometimes the aching injustice of human-caused climate change hits you square between the eyes.
Justice, Democracy
Energy Democracy: Advancing Equity in Clean Energy Solutions. Edited by Denise Fairchild and Al Weinrub. 2017.
A global energy war is underway. It is man versus nature, fossil fuel versus clean energy, the haves versus the have-nots, and, fundamentally, an extractive economy versus a regenerative economy. The near-unanimous consensus among climate scientists is that the massive burning of gas, oil, and coal is having a cataclysmic impact on our atmosphere and climate, and depleting earth’s natural resources, including its land, food, fresh water and biodiversity.
These climate and environmental impacts are particularly magnified and debilitating for low-income communities and communities of color that live closest to toxic sites, are disproportionately impacted by high incidences of asthma, cancer and rates of morbidity and mortality, and lack the financial resources to build resilience to climate change.
Energy democracy tenders a response and joins the environmental and climate movements with broader movements for social and economic change. Energy democracy is a way to frame the international struggle of working people, low income communities, and communities of color to take control of energy resources from the energy establishment and use those resources to empower their communities—literally providing energy, economically, and politically. Energy democracy is more important than ever as climate and social justice advocates confront a shocking political reality in the U.S.
This volume brings together racial, cultural, and generational perspectives. This diversity is bound together by a common operating frame: that the global fight to save the planet—to conserve and restore our natural resources to be life-sustaining—must fully engage community residents and must change the larger economy to be sustainable, democratic, and just. The contributors offer their perspectives and approaches to climate and clean energy from rural Mississippi, to the South Bronx, to Californian immigrant and refugee communities, to urban and semi-rural communities in the Northeast. Taken together, the contributions in this book show what an alternative, democratized energy future can look like, and will inspire others to take up the struggle to build the energy democracy movement.
UNITED NATIONS
On JUNE 20, World Refugee Day, help us prevent a lost generation by providing displaced children a chance at a better future through education. That starts with ensuring refugee camps are equipped with safe schools so a child’s future doesn’t suffer when her world is uprooted. Make a donation today — every bit helps.
TELL CONGRESS YOU STAND WITH REFUGEES
From Syria to Venezuela, Bangladesh to South Sudan, the UN is on the frontlines responding to refugee crises around the world. But the need for shelter, food, health care, education, and other vital aid is urgent. We must support the UN’s work now. Tell Congress you stand #WithRefugees.
Throughout history and today, refugees contribute rich culture, innovation, and value to our societies. To celebrate World Refugee Day, we created a collection of songs by musical artists who were once refugees themselves. Take a listen and share with your friends.
UNAUNA
United Nations Association of the United States of America
1750 Pennsylvania Ave NW #300
Washington, DC, DC 20006
REFUGEES ANTHOLOGY #1
https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2022/11/omni-climate-refugees-anthology-1.html
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology