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250 A.Heslinet al.
andman-made processeswhich combined forHurricaneKatrina,meant that some
termed thedisaster “deathbypolitical economy” for theAfricanAmerica residents
ofLouisiana (Price2008).Childrenarealsomore likely tobeaffectedbyhurricane
displacement.ChildrendisplacedbyHurricaneKatrinawerefive timesmore likely
to suffer from emotional distress (Abramson et al. 2010) and those in a state of
prolonged displacement and unable to return to the cityweremore likely to suffer
frompost-traumaticstressdisorderanddepressionthanthosewhomovedwithinthe
city (Hansel et al. 2013). Over a third of children displaced byHurricaneKatrina
were a year or more behind in school (Abramson et al. 2010). There were also
ramifications on school behaviour, attendance, suspension, expulsion anddrop-out
rates (Paneet al. 2006;Wardet al. 2008).
In theUSA, typically20–30%of theaffectedpopulationsfail to respondtoevac-
uation orders and remain in the disaster area during storms (Redlener 2006). This
canbeattributed todifferentiated riskperception,others fail toevacuateprior to the
landfall of thehurricane toavoidperceived lossesanddamages that leavingentails.
Reasonsfornotevacuatingincludethediscomfortforelderlyorinfirm(VanWilligen
etal.2002)protectingone’shomefromlooters(Riadetal.1999),previousproblems
with evacuation traffic (Morss andHayden2010), anxiety about being arrested for
undocumented workers (Tiefenbacher andWilson 2012), reluctance to leave pets
(Heath et al. 2001) and the need to be able to clean up after the storm as soon as
possible (DashandMorrow2000).
10.4.3 TheDesertificationofWestAfricaandtheAscendance
ofBokoHaram
Natural disasters—however unnatural—are not the onlymovers of people across
nations and regions. The changing terrain that accompanies widespread climate
change also shifts geo-political realities, andwith them the landscape of conflict.
Here, we consider theways inwhich slowly-worsening environmental conditions
changepeople’s locationsand lives, specificallydesertificationanddeforestation.
Desertificationhasmadepreviouslyfertileagriculturallandfunctionallyuninhab-
itable in regions throughout theworld (Bettini andAndersson 2014;Owusu2013;
Vieira et al. 2015).Existing researchhas linked this phenomenon toman-madecli-
matechangefornearly25years(HulmeandKelly1993;CalabròandMagazù2016).
In the case of the Sahara, it hasmade already tenuous post-colonial regimes even
morevulnerable,asfragilestatesstruggletomaintainbasicserviceswhilegrappling
with thearrivalofcitizensandmigrants in transit (Ferris2012).Traditionalwaysof
life havebeen renderedobsolete as villages are overtakenby the sandof theSahel
and, in thecaseofNigeria, the trendhasworked to further impoverish theNorthern
provinces of the nation (Mantzikos 2010). In theMaiduguri province ofNorthern
Nigeria, school teacherswereunable to cultivate landorfishduring school breaks.
Thisnewlyfounddesperationcontributedtotheirorganisingofstudentsintotherad-
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima