Extreme weather events in one of the world’s most populous regions bring food insecurity, displacement and disease.

Fears of declines in food production, together with other climate-related calamities such as rising sea levels, have also raised the alarm as millions in South Asia are being internally displaced.

A report published by activist group ActionAid in 2020 estimated the region could see up to 63 million people become migrants by 2050 as a result of extreme weather events.

Huq said displacement from human-induced climate change was further adding to economic migration from rural to urban areas – a continuing phenomenon worldwide – with South Asia being a major “hotspot”, with the greatest displacement taking place in low-lying coastal areas.

“Climate change … is exacerbating the ‘push factor’ – the motivation to migrate away from place of residence – for people who are living in places where they can no longer continue to have livelihoods that they used to have, whether it’s farming or fishing,” he said.

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    1 year ago

    Photos: heavy rainfall lashes northern India

    9 Jul 2023 Al Jazeera / Reuters

    At least 15 people were killed in floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that battered northern India, with New Delhi receiving the most rainfall in decades, reports and officials said Sunday.

    Roads in several parts of the capital were submerged in knee-deep water as it was inundated with 153mm of rain, the highest precipitation in a single day in July in 40 years.

    With at least another day of heavy rain forecast, authorities have ordered schools shut in New Delhi on Monday.

    The Press Trust of India news agency reported Sunday that 15 people had been killed in the past 24 hours in six northern Indian states.