US suffers world’s first climate change exodus

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The first mass exodus of people fleeing the disastrous effects of climate change is not happening in low-lying Pacific islands but in the world’s richest country, a US study said.

“The first massive movement of climate refugees has been that of people away from the Gulf Coast of the United States,” said the Earth Policy Institute, which has warned for years that climate change demands action now.

Institute president Lester Brown said that about a quarter of a million people who fled the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina a year ago must now be classed as “refugees”.

“Interestingly, the country to suffer the most damage from a hurricane is also primarily responsible for global warming,” he said.

AFP