14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report, it would appear that at least one tenth of the Mexican population will attempt to find shelter and refuge in the United States in the near future. Experts say that global warming is bound to have devastating effects in the country, in the sense that it will cause a large portion of all crops to fail constantly. This will threaten Mexicans, who will try their luck across the border. Estimates place the number of future immigrants at around 6.7 million, Nature News reports.
This study is one of the first ever to look at how global warming and climate change will affect population dynamics over a given area. Experts believe that investigations such as this one will become commonplace in the future, as temperature shifts and precipitation pattern changes will begin to affect more and more regions. Areas that are already dry, or which are located near shorelines, are bound to be most affected by droughts and floods. The new work was conducted by researchers at the Princeton University in New Jersey.
The study reveals that a large part of the adult Mexican population will try to move to the United States over the next 70 years. Agricultural productivity is expected to decline considerably in Mexico, producing devastating social and economic effects. Those who can, will attempt to escape famine and poverty, and cross the borders to the north. Already, more than 12.7 million Mexicans live in the US, according to a 28 survey conducted by the Washington, DC-based Pew Hispanic Center.
The new findings have already caused quite a stir among activists, who argue that the conclusions could be used by far-right activists to propose and advance anti-immigration causes. The issue is already very sensitive, especially given the recent laws introduced in Arizona and other states. The environmental, economic and social implications of global warming-related migrations are bound to exert massive effects on both the US and Mexico, experts believe.
“It would behoove them as scientists to shift their focus. [This is] research that will contribute to the xenophobia that is already running amok in our country today,” explains immigrants' rights activist Lorenzo Cano. He is the associate director of the University of Houston in Texas Center for Mexican American Studies. The investigation is published in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
“Mexican migration is part of the solution to many of the current [US] labor market demands. The scientific community should explain this within the context of any studies focusing on the impact of climate change,” Cano concludes.