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Exploring the link between climate change and migration

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Abstract

Previous research has postulated that climate change will lead to mass migration. However, the linkages postulated between the two have not been explicitly demonstrated but have rather been derived from ‘common sense’. In this paper, the connection between climate change and migration via two mechanisms, sea level rise and floods, is investigated and depicted in conceptual models. In both cases, a connection can be traced and the linkages are made explicit. However, the study also clearly shows that the connection is by no means deterministic but depends on numerous factors relating to the vulnerability of the people and the region in question.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sabine L. Perch-Nielsen, Michèle B. Bättig & Dieter Imboden

  2. ETH Zurich, CHN E 24, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sabine L. Perch-Nielsen

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  1. Sabine L. Perch-Nielsen
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  2. Michèle B. Bättig
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  3. Dieter Imboden
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Correspondence to Sabine L. Perch-Nielsen.

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L. Perch-Nielsen, S., B. Bättig, M. & Imboden, D. Exploring the link between climate change and migration. Climatic Change 91, 375–393 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9416-y

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