In 2100, there will be 2 billion refugees on Earth - due to rising water levels

In 2100, 2 billion people - about onefifth of the world's population - may become refugees due to rising sea levels. Those who once lived on the coastlines will face difficulties in moving and relocating in search of habitable places away from the sea.

“We will have more people and less territories, faster than we think,” says author of the work on this topic, Charles Geisler, honorary professor of developmental sociology at Cornell University.

"The future rise in world average sea level,likely to be sharp. But few politicians appreciate the significant obstacles to climate refugees in the coastal zone, who will try to migrate to higher ground. ”

What will happen to the Earth in 2100?

It is expected that by 2050 the populationEarth will increase to 9 billion people, and by 2100 - up to 11 billion. It will take more arable land to feed this population, as the expanding oceans will swallow up fertile coastal zones and river deltas, forcing people to look for new places to live.

"The clash of human fertility,flooding of coastal zones, flight from residential areas and problems with resettlement in the inner lands will become a huge problem. According to our estimates, land will not be able to support new waves of climate refugees due to residual wars, depletion of natural resources, decline in net primary productivity, desertification, urban sprawl, land concentration, road construction and greenhouse gas storage, ”Geisler says.

Scientists cite as an example possible solutions andproactive adaptation in places such as Florida and China, where coastal and domestic land use policies are coordinated in anticipation of weather-induced population movements.

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