There Could Be 143 Million Climate Change Refugees by 2050 (SOURCE: Global Citizen)

When a hurricane or earthquake strikes, government and humanitarian aid usually follows. But when a natural disaster unfolds slowly, in the form of a drought or through sea-level rise, there aren’t always clear-cut protocols for help.

In these cases, the victims are often overlooked.

By 2050, 143 million people could be displaced from their homes because of gradual climate disasters, according to a new report by the World Bank.

As that happens, governments will have no choice but to change how they respond to these kinds of crises, or else risk being overwhelmed by huge movements of people, the report argues.

“We have a small window now, before the effects of climate change deepen, to prepare the ground for this new reality,” Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“Steps cities take to cope with the upward trend of arrivals from rural areas and to improve opportunities for education, training and jobs will pay long-term dividends,” she added. “It’s also important to help people make good decisions about whether to stay where they are or move to new locations where they are less vulnerable.”

The bulk of affected people will be in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, according to the report, and they’ll be going from rural areas to urban areas.

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