Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries
Abstract Understanding what drives human migration in floodplains is critical for mitigating risks and enhancing resilience to floods. However, existing global analyses have not fully explored these complex dynamics. Here we introduce a metric, human-flood distance change, to track migration in floo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02293-2 |
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| author | Ning Wang Fubao Sun Siquan Yang Yao Feng Hongquan Sun Zhonggen Wang |
| author_facet | Ning Wang Fubao Sun Siquan Yang Yao Feng Hongquan Sun Zhonggen Wang |
| author_sort | Ning Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding what drives human migration in floodplains is critical for mitigating risks and enhancing resilience to floods. However, existing global analyses have not fully explored these complex dynamics. Here we introduce a metric, human-flood distance change, to track migration in floodplains from 2000 to 2018, exploring the interplay of climatic and anthropogenic influences. We find that in developing countries, including India, Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria, flood fatalities and displacement strongly influence migration decisions, often forcing populations to move away or toward flood-prone areas due to flood damage memory or resource needs. Conversely, regions with higher flood protection, such as the United States, show migration trends away from hazardous areas. Climatic drivers, like flood inundation area, exert stronger influences in Australia. Notably, in the Philippines and Kenya, the easing of drought-flood abrupt alternation has led to increased population movement toward flood-prone areas, underscoring the complex interactions between multiple hazards. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-834233c5e33d4efe8727a98033733d2f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-834233c5e33d4efe8727a98033733d2f2025-08-20T03:15:14ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-04-01611810.1038/s43247-025-02293-2Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countriesNing Wang0Fubao Sun1Siquan Yang2Yao Feng3Hongquan Sun4Zhonggen Wang5National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesNational Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of ChinaKey Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesNational Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of ChinaNational Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of ChinaAbstract Understanding what drives human migration in floodplains is critical for mitigating risks and enhancing resilience to floods. However, existing global analyses have not fully explored these complex dynamics. Here we introduce a metric, human-flood distance change, to track migration in floodplains from 2000 to 2018, exploring the interplay of climatic and anthropogenic influences. We find that in developing countries, including India, Argentina, Brazil and Nigeria, flood fatalities and displacement strongly influence migration decisions, often forcing populations to move away or toward flood-prone areas due to flood damage memory or resource needs. Conversely, regions with higher flood protection, such as the United States, show migration trends away from hazardous areas. Climatic drivers, like flood inundation area, exert stronger influences in Australia. Notably, in the Philippines and Kenya, the easing of drought-flood abrupt alternation has led to increased population movement toward flood-prone areas, underscoring the complex interactions between multiple hazards.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02293-2 |
| spellingShingle | Ning Wang Fubao Sun Siquan Yang Yao Feng Hongquan Sun Zhonggen Wang Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| title_full | Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| title_fullStr | Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| title_short | Flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| title_sort | flood fatalities and displacement influence human migration in floodplains of developing countries |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02293-2 |
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