男女羞羞视频在线观看,国产精品黄色免费,麻豆91在线视频,美女被羞羞免费软件下载,国产的一级片,亚洲熟色妇,天天操夜夜摸,一区二区三区在线电影

30m people displaced by natural catastrophes

Updated: 2011-12-16 07:41

By Karl Wilson (China Daily)

  Comments() Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按鈕 0

SYDNEY - More than 30 million people in the Asia-Pacific region were displaced last year by environmental disasters, including floods and storms, and the number is likely to increase as droughts and floods become more severe.

While many of those displaced eventually returned home when flood waters receded, many have now become migrants seeking more secure lives elsewhere. That is usually in already densely populated urban centers, especially along the coast, creating a new set of problems for governments and urban planners.

30m people displaced by natural catastrophes

NEW ZEALAND: Fifteen-year-old Kent Manning (left) and sister Libby, 18, grieve with their father after being told there's no hope of finding the teens' mother alive. She was trapped in a building that collapsed in Christchurch in the 6.3-magnitude earthquake on Feb 22. Rob Griffith / AP

That message was delivered in September at a conference, the first to examine climate change and migration, that was organized by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank. Participants were told that migration driven by environmental factors is emerging as a serious concern for many governments in Asia.

Globally, eight of the 10 countries with the largest number of people living in low-elevation coastal zones are in Asia.

30m people displaced by natural catastrophes
30m people displaced by natural catastrophes

Over the past two decades, the region has been undergoing massive and rapid social and economic change. Home to 4 billion people, representing three-fifths of humanity, Asia is also home to the most important source of international migrants worldwide.

One of the more striking trends in the region has been an "increase in the level and complexity of population mobility against a backdrop of steady urbanization", the conference was told.

Environmental catastrophes, such as droughts and floods, will contribute to ongoing labor migration from rural to urban areas, which is particularly pronounced in countries with fast-growing economies and booming urban hubs.

Islands at risk

"Entire communities on some islands in the Maldives have been forced to relocate because of rising sea levels," Mohamed Aslam, environment minister of the Maldives, told the conference. "Life wasn't sustainable in those islands."

An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the country is seen as a case study for climate change.

30m people displaced by natural catastrophes
30m people displaced by natural catastrophes
With a population of about 313,000, the Maldives is the smallest Asian nation in population and land area. The average ground level is 1.5 meters above sea level, making it the lowest country on earth. The highest point in the country is only 2.3 meters, making it extremely vulnerable to inundation by sea.

Aslam said that in parts of his country, fresh water has become scarce, entailing expenses to desalinate seawater. Soil chemistry has also changed, with some crops unable to grow, and many islands have been eroded.

Bart Edes, an Asian Development Bank director for sustainable development, estimated that $40 billion might be needed to mitigate the effects of climate change in the Asia-Pacific region.

The tiny island nations of the Pacific face a similar fate. Rising sea levels may force people to move from their island homes in the South Pacific.

"What we don't know is how climate change will actually affect the ecological and social systems in islands," Jon Barnett, a professor of resource management and geography at the University of Melbourne, said last month at a conference in Sydney.

30m people displaced by natural catastrophes
30m people displaced by natural catastrophes
'Most vulnerable'

At the same conference, Rabab Fatima, chief of mission in Bangladesh for the International Organization for Migration, described Bangladesh as the "most climate-vulnerable country in the world". A 1-meter rise in sea level can inundate 18 percent of the country's land mass and directly affect 11 percent of the population. "One study has shown that more than 1 million people a year are displaced by riverbank erosion alone," Fatima said.

Bangladesh has a long history of internal migration, mostly rural to urban. In addition, Fatima said, "Over the past 20 years, overseas migration has grown manifold with over 6 million Bangladeshi migrants believed to be working abroad."

 


 

主站蜘蛛池模板: 德清县| 新安县| 香格里拉县| 汤阴县| 定远县| 朝阳县| 临颍县| 綦江县| 越西县| 新泰市| 尉氏县| 平邑县| 潮安县| 湖口县| 白城市| 北票市| 杂多县| 黎川县| 于田县| 巴中市| 曲沃县| 丹江口市| 建昌县| 临江市| 梅州市| 金阳县| 隆子县| 太白县| 镇赉县| 玉溪市| 三明市| 鲁山县| 威宁| 石台县| 杭锦后旗| 富锦市| 唐河县| 冕宁县| 江津市| 新巴尔虎右旗| 顺平县| 海宁市| 清水河县| 青田县| 洮南市| 尉犁县| 辛集市| 蓬安县| 柘荣县| 思南县| 冷水江市| 荔波县| 伊春市| 桓台县| 察哈| 广德县| 开远市| 康保县| 南澳县| 红河县| 慈利县| 抚远县| 安阳县| 富裕县| 磴口县| 元阳县| 大悟县| 喀喇沁旗| 清水县| 额尔古纳市| 蒙城县| 府谷县| 正镶白旗| 遵义县| 色达县| 融水| 温泉县| 平顺县| 鹿泉市| 余姚市| 德阳市| 宁德市|