Americans are facing an immigration crisis. And the reasons why seem well-established: Central Americans are trying to enter the U.S. to flee both poverty and violence. But environmental factors, exacerbated by climate change, play a significant role as well.

University of Dayton cultural anthropologist Miranda Cady Hallett provides a nuanced picture of how climate change contributes to emigration from the region. Hallett also makes the point that environmental stressors are causing migrations around the world – a situation likely to get worse as the planet warms – which raises unresolved legal questions on the status and security of migrants.

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A farmer carries firewood during the dry season in Nicaragua, one of the Central American countries affected by a recent drought. Neil Palmer for CIAT/flickr

How climate change is driving emigration from Central America

Miranda Cady Hallett, University of Dayton

Poverty and violence are often cited as the reasons people emigrate from Central America, but factors such as drought, exacerbated by climate change, are driving people to leave too.

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