The Most At Risk Cities - Climate Change

This short GOOD Magazine animation looks at which cities are most at risk from climate change, and at a surprising link between the most vulnerable cities and the most resilient ones. It frames climate change as a human displacement problem as well as an environmental one.

What the video covers

• A projection that global warming could create 150 million "climate refugees" over 40 years
• The five cities it identifies as most at risk
• How those cities relate to the world's most resilient cities

The evidence

Estimates of climate migration vary widely because they depend on emissions, adaptation and how "climate refugee" is defined. The World Bank's Groundswell report projected that up to 216 million people could be forced to move within their own countries by 2050 if strong action isn't taken. Weather-related disasters already displace tens of millions of people each year. Low-lying coastal cities face rising seas and storm surge, while hot, water-stressed cities face extreme heat and drought. The people with the fewest resources to adapt are usually hit hardest.

Related reading: Global Inequities and Climate Change, Climate Change and Climate Change: Evidence-Based Hope.