Laserfiche WebLink
4. Migration <br />Climate has shaped humanity in many fundamental ways, even our very evolution is <br />characterized by our ability to adapt successfully to ever changing climatic situations. Once <br />humans were capable, climate dictated how we would leave Africa, through a revolving door <br />of climate changes that shifted the northern regions between gentle savannah and harsh <br />desert. Once into the heart of Central Asia and the Mediterranean, humanity was quickly <br />able to spread throughout the world, aided by our evolutionary advances that had been <br />sculpted by our environment. This allowed for people to inhabit the entire globe with <br />unprecedented speed. Once communities began to grow, climate still could dictate how we <br />move, as large climate events could make certain areas uninhabitable and permanent <br />settlements unstable. Yet as technology advanced the major forces that drove migrations <br />soon turned to economic and social structures, but this did not mean climate took a back <br />seat. Still an important driver, climate heavily influences what economies can produce and <br />how social groups form and interact. Prolonged drought can force people to move and over- <br />stress a neighboring population, a rise in water temperature can devastate a fishing <br />community, and even major events such as increased volcanic activity can force massive <br />populations to migrate suddenly. <br />In the future it is critical that municipal governments such as the Elk River take into <br />consideration issues such as migration, especially considering recent international <br />declarations such as the COP 16 decision that migration is one means of adapting to climate <br />change. Municipal governments through their relationship with their populaces will be need <br />to take some form of action in the event of a state receiving refugees. This is especially <br />DI <br />