Climate Change and Migration in the Maldives
The words ‘climate change’, ‘migration,’ and ‘islands’ evoke images of “climate change refugees” fleeing from paradise as the ocean mercilessly rises over pristine beaches. These representations rarely hold in reality. Phrases such as “climate refugees” and “climate migrants” are severely criticized in scientific literature, and many islanders object to the terms. The Maldives is a perfect case to illustrate how islanders view links between climate change and migration. The country, an Indian Ocean archipelago with 1,190 islands grouped into 26 low-lying coral atolls, has its highest point just 2.4 meters above sea...
