Where will you be able to live in 20 years Carol Farbotko and Ingrid Boas
Mohammadpur has always had
a unique relationship with the weather.
Located at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal,
this coastal village was built
on top of the Meghna River delta.
Deltas are a kind of landmass formed
when sediment carried by rivers
is deposited where that river meets
a larger body of water.
River deltas are incredibly fertile
ecosystems
capable of supporting abundant agriculture
and marine life.
However, their borders gradually change
as rivers bring more sediment in
and storms wash sediment away.
The residents of Mohammadpur are well
accustomed to managing
the ebbs and flows of this ever-shifting
landscape.
But lately, an abundance of intense
cyclones have caused frequent flooding
that impedes farming and fishing.
These floods also erode the coastline,
allowing later storms to wipe
away land altogether.
Since 2000, the Meghna River has overtaken
the coastline by 2.5 kilometers,
forcing many villagers to move inland
or to nearby cities.
Mohammadpur isn’t the only place
where erratic weather
is impacting people’s mobility.
Repeated typhoons in the Philippines have
displaced thousands from their homes.
In Fiji, the government is already moving
many coastal villages inland
to get ahead of predicted land loss.
And in the United States,
melting permafrost is causing chunks
of the Alaskan coastline to erode.
In some ways, this is nothing new.
Humanity has always adapted
to changing weather
and moved to regions that best support
cultural lifestyles and livelihoods.
However, scientists agree
that this rise in extreme weather
is a by-product of Earth’s
rapidly changing climate.
Global warming increases the frequency and
intensity of storms, flooding and drought,
while also melting polar ice caps
and raising sea levels.
These factors are changing the environment
much faster than they have in the past.
Even for communities with the resources
to take action,
the variable pace and nature of these
changes makes them difficult to adapt to.
And the vulnerable populations most
impacted by climate change
are often those least responsible.
Many facing climate mobility live
in farming and fishing communities
in countries that generate dramatically
fewer emissions
than their larger counterparts.
Bangladesh is one such country.
The nation has a unique combination
of low-lying geography
and heavily populated coastal regions.
Most of these vulnerable coastal families,
like those in Mohammadpur,
don’t want to abandon
their homes and livelihoods.
And for others, leaving Bangladesh
isn’t financially practical.
So to stay with their communities,
many have moved a few meters inland
and built more resilient homes
on higher ground or elevated stilts.
Others have tried to buy land on newly
emerging islands in the delta,
while some have sent family members
to find work in nearby cities.
A handful of individuals might even cross
international borders,
if they have family, friends, or work
connections on the other side.
But many of the residents who’ve left
are eager to return home.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear when
weather extremes will die down,
and the government has repeatedly delayed
projects to build concrete embankments
that would prevent further erosion.
In other parts of the world,
people couldn’t move inland
even if they wanted to.
The low-lying Pacific Island nations
of Kiribati and Tuvalu
are only 811 square kilometers
and 26 square kilometers, respectively;
so migration would mean moving
to a different country altogether.
Instead, their governments and citizens
have united
in physically, legally, and politically
fortifying their countries.
Island residents are planting
coastal mangrove forests,
and building up low-lying areas of land
with dredged sand
to shield themselves against storms
and rising sea levels.
And the islands’ governments have
repeatedly lobbied on the global stage
for countries with the highest emissions
to reduce pollution
and take responsibility
for climate change.
The challenges facing
each coastal community are unique,
and the diversity of the people’s
experiences can make climate mobility
a difficult phenomenon
to measure and define.
But as new communities are endangered
by extreme weather,
it’s more important than ever
to listen to those
on the front lines of this crisis.