“Climate change, when layered onto a mix of economic instability, violence and weak governance, can become fuel — a threat multiplier that could aggravate Honduras’ vulnerabilities, leaving people little choice but to flee. Already, immigration analysts note that roughly half the adults apprehended at the U.S. border work in agriculture, underscoring the precarious nature of their lives at home.”
Views: 78
True … but Central America has suffered this way frequently for centuries. It’s probably been at the Malthusian limit since agriculture was developed there thousands of years ago. What seems to be genuinely new is that these miserable people can now trek to the US border rather than simply dying in place. Presumably the gradual increase in incomes is bringing travel of a couple of thousand miles within the reach of millions.
Which touches on the policy question nobody really wants to address: Shall the U.S. be the universal refuge for people in horrible conditions? A large faction says Hell, no. A substantial fraction of progressives think it should.