2005 prediction: 50m environmental refugees by end of decade, UN warns | Environment | The Guardian

States urged to prepare for victims of climate change
· Natural disasters displace more people than wars
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* David Adam, environment correspondent
* The Guardian, Wednesday 12 October 2005
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Rising sea levels, desertification and shrinking freshwater supplies will create up to 50 million environmental refugees by the end of the decade, experts warn today. Janos Bogardi, director of the Institute for Environment and Human Security at the United Nations University in Bonn, said creeping environmental deterioration already displaced up to 10 million people a year, and the situation would get worse.
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"There are well-founded fears that the number of people fleeing untenable environmental conditions may grow exponentially as the world experiences the effects of climate change," Dr Bogardi said.