Page - 13 - in options, Volume winter 2021

Research shows that more than 24 million people on average have had to leave their homes due to climate and weather-related events every year since 2008, and if such events keep increasing in frequency and severity, indications are that rates of movement will also increase. However, not everyone can afford to move and there is a risk that disadvantaged communities in affected regions will find themselves caught in a “mobility trap”. Climate change is in fact already disproportionately affecting the world’s most vulnerable populations, exacerbating existing health threats, and creating new public health challenges. The effects of climate change will not only compound and magnify existing inequalities, but its effects will increase in severity over time, affecting current and future generations. WEATHERING THE STORM Some argue that an important response to climate impacts is simply moving away from affected areas. However, this presents multiple challenges – both for the people moving and for the communities where they end up. Add to this the fact that there seems to be little policy planning for potential displacement and population movements and that impacts are mostly only dealt with after they happen — mainly by overstretched local governments and charities — it seems that a perfect storm is brewing. IIASA researchers have long been studying the intricate links between climate change and people. Systems science is particularly well suited to explore issues in this regard, as climate impacts can potentially affect population size, composition, and where people live, while such changing demographics can in turn influence global climate systems, as human activities contribute to and drive climate change. The Population Dynamics under Global Climate Change (POPCLIMA) Project funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant and led by IIASA Population and Just Societies Program Director Raya Muttarak, for instance, aims to unpack these complexities using a combination of geo-referenced climate, population, and socioeconomic data from a variety of sources, including surveys and social media at the individual, regional, and country levels. “Looking at how the changing climate impacts different subgroups of populations and identifying the ways in which health, mortality, fertility, and migration FLOODED SUBWAY TUNNELS AND SUBURBS, UNSTOPPABLE WILDFIRES RAGING ACROSS THE COUNTRYSIDE, AND HEATWAVES AND HURRICANES WREAKING HAVOC IN COMMUNITIES. THESE ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY EVENTS HAVE BECOME NOT ONLY MORE FREQUENT BUT ALSO MORE INTENSE AROUND THE WORLD. AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED, IT IS UNDENIABLE THAT THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ARE BEING FELT ACROSS THE GLOBE. 13Optionswww.iiasa.ac.at Winter 2021