(MENAFN- AzerNews) According to estimates, nearly 216 million people worldwide will
be forced to migrate by 2050 due to drought-related factors such as
water scarcity, rising sea levels, crop loss, and excessive
population growth, Azernews reports, citing
Anadolu Agency.
Experts note that the regions most affected will be the
Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East, where
meteorological models indicate 30% less precipitation.
The Drought in Numbers 2022 report, released by the UN
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in May last year,
revealed that an estimated 55 million people globally are directly
affected by droughts every year.
Over 1.4 billion people were affected by drought from 2000 to
2019. This makes drought the disaster affecting the second-highest
number of people, after flooding, according to the report.
“More than 10 million people died due to major drought events in
the past century, causing several hundred billion US dollars in
economic losses worldwide. And the numbers are rising,” said the
report.
If global warming reaches three degrees Celsius by 2100 as some
predict, drought losses could be five times higher than they are
today, with the largest increase in the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic regions of Europe, it added.
All countries must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve
recovery in the field of drought, Hasan Tatli, head of the
Geography Department at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, told
Anadolu.
“If you surpass a certain threshold, even if you later zero out
emissions, you cannot prevent climate change. The majority of
scientists agree that we have already passed that stage,” Tatli
warned.
“There are very recent studies suggesting that even if you zero
out emissions, the effects of climate change will last for at least
100 years," he said.
"The Mediterranean region, North Africa, and the Middle East are
highly exposed to drought, and they are the most sensitive points
to climate change,” according to Tatli.
Tatli underlined that major droughts are expected in these
regions as meteorological models indicate 30% less
precipitation.
"This will also lead to socio-economic problems, with climate
migrations being at the forefront. Unfortunately, these climate
migrations will occur through Türkiye, so the country will suffer a
great deal from them,” he said.
“It is expected that only from North Africa and the Middle East,
500-600 million people will migrate northward,” the expert
warned.
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