Long-term changes in climate have a greater impact on human migration than sudden natural disasters, a new study shows.
Authors tracked 7,185 households in Indonesia between 1993 and 2007, focusing on agricultural regions. They found that when average annual air temperatures exceeded 25 °C, households were more likely to migrate permanently for economic reasons.
Natural disasters (landslides, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions) had either no effects or very small effects on permanent migration.
Original research paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (U.S.A.) on June 23, 2014.
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