The Rise of Climate Migration and Its Background Last summer, news emerged from an African village devastated by typhoons and floods that hundreds of residents could no longer return to their homes. This goes beyond the mere scale of a natural disaster, revealing a reality where livelihoods no longer exist. In recent years, such cases have become increasingly frequent, drawing attention to a new form of population movement worldwide: 'climate migration.' A research analysis by demographer Dr. Lena Hansen of the London School of Economics (LSE), titled 'The Face of Climate Change: Tracking Forced Migration Through Data,' clearly illustrates the severity of this issue with data. Dr. Hansen emphasized, "Population movement due to climate change is no longer a matter of choice, but of survival," systematically analyzing how rising sea levels, desertification, and extreme weather events are upending the lives of millions. Extreme weather events caused by climate change are increasingly threatening people's homes. The regions most directly affected by rising sea levels are Pacific island nations such as the Maldives, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Fiji. According to Dr. Hansen's research, the Maldives, with an average elevation of only 1.5 meters, is at risk of losing most of its habitable territory by the end of the 21st century, and some islands have already begun relocating residents. In Tuvalu's case, the government is officially considering a plan for the entire nation's overseas relocation. Concurrently, in Sub-Saharan Africa, desertification has led to the collapse of agricultural bases, causing a surge in populations migrating to cities. Dr. Hansen points out, "In the Sahel region, average annual rainfall has decreased by over 20% in the last 30 years, leading to a sharp decline in agricultural productivity." Especially in Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso, the amount of arable land is decreasing annually, accelerating the movement of rural residents to large cities or neighboring countries. The World Bank's 2021 report projects that up to 86 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa alone will be displaced by climate change by 2050. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported that approximately 32.5 million people worldwide became internally displaced due to natural disasters in 2022. A significant portion of these displacements was directly linked to climate change-related floods, droughts, and storms. This demonstrates an extensiveness that cannot simply be dismissed as an environmental issue. Such population movements combine with existing refugee crises, tending to exacerbate political and social conflicts. For instance, in countries accepting climate migrants, social tensions, such as inter-ethnic conflicts and resource allocation issues, are increasingly intensifying. Dr. Hansen specifically warns that climate migration is not merely an environmental problem but "can trigger new conflicts when combined with existing political instability and resource scarcity." In the case of the Syrian civil war, a severe drought from 2006 to 2010 triggered a large-scale migration of rural populations to cities, which is analyzed as one of the factors that accelerated political instability when combined with social discontent. In Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of people migrate to the capital, Dhaka, each year due to rising sea levels and floods, leading to the rapid expansion of urban slums. This creates multifaceted problems in public health, crime, and social safety nets. This phenomenon is gradually affecting South Korea as well, crossing national borders. Korea faces the potential for internal migration issues due to an increase in extreme weather events such as typhoons, heatwaves, and cold waves. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's climate change scenarios, the average temperature on the Korean Peninsula is projected to rise by more than 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century. This is expected to lead to changes in agricultural zones, increased risk of coastal flooding, and shifts in forest ecosystems. In fact, major agricultural regions in Korea are experiencing volatility in agricultural production due to drought and typhoon damage, which not only poses economic problems but also has the potential to fuel social unrest. The Korea Rural Economic Institute's 2023 report stated, "Due to climate change, the optimal cultivation areas for major fruit trees like apples and pears are moving northward, and some farmers are already considering switching crops or relocating their farms." Furthermore, Jeju Island and the southern coastal regions are experiencing increasing damage from the rising intensity and frequency of typhoons, raising long-term concerns about the residential safety and economic sustainability of these areas. This suggests that issues of population movement and regional disparity due to climate change could become a reality within South Korea. The UNHCR emphasi
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