Transcript:

Many people assume that climate change will force huge numbers of people to migrate across borders. A Stanford researcher says that’s unlikely – but that does not mean everyone’s OK.

In her research, Hélène Benveniste has found that people respond differently to extreme weather depending on how vulnerable they are and whether they can afford to move.

In a recent analysis of global migration data, she found that people with less education were more likely to move to other countries after heat waves.

Benveniste: “The individuals who tend to be most affected by weather stressors in deciding whether they go to migrate across borders are people with lower levels of education. People with high levels of education are typically not really affected by weather.”

… likely because they often work indoors.

But in another study, she found that people with very little income can be trapped in place.

Benveniste: “It actually is quite costly to migrate for a lot of people. And if climate stressors are going to deplete the resources that you have, what you end up with, it’s not that you don’t need to migrate away from harm, it’s that you don’t necessarily have the resources to do that.”

So she says as the climate warms, it’s important to look beyond the total number of people migrating – and consider who is moving and who cannot – to create policies that support vulnerable people.

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media