Earth Equity News

Climate Fears are Driving 'Ecomigration' Across Globe. By Shankar Vedantam, WashPost, February 23, 2009. "In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters -- and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa's Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people have been driven to move by droughts and famines. In the Philippines, upwards of 4 million people have moved from lowlands to highlands as a result of deforestation. And in an earlier era, about 2.5 million Americans became ecomigrants after droughts and land degradation during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s... New Zealand's environmental credentials are no secret: Nearly half of all skilled migrants to the country cite its 'climate or the clean, green environment to be a main reason' for moving there, according to a survey conducted by the nation's Department of Labor."