This Land Is Our Land

by Suketu Mehta

  “That’s almost the combined gross domestic product”: Roberto Suro, “We Need to Offer More Than Asylum.” New York Times (July 14, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/opinion/sunday/migration-asylum-trump.html.

  The next year, the murder rate in Honduras: Gustavo Palencia, “Honduras Murder Rate Fell by More Than 25 percent in 2017: Government.” Reuters (January 2, 2018). https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honduras-violence/honduras-murder-rate-fell-by-more-than-25-percent-in-2017-government-idUSKBN1ER1K9.

  slashed aid to those countries by over 35 percent: Chantal Da Silva, “How Much Aid Does US Give to Central America? Trump Says He’s Cutting Funding to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras over Migrant Caravan.” Newsweek (October 22, 2018). https://www.newsweek.com/how-much-aid-does-us-give-central-america-trump-says-hes-cutting-funding-el-1180732.

  To date, 130 countries have signed the 2014 United Nations Arms Trade Treaty: “Arms Trade Treaty. New York, 2 April 2013.” United Nations Treaty Collection (status as of May 12, 2018). https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-8&chapter=26&clang=_en.

  According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: Aude Fleurant, Alexandra Kuimova, Nan Tian, Pieter D. Wezeman, and Siemon T. Wezeman, “The SIPRI Top 100 Arms-Producing and Military Service Companies, 2016” (December 11, 2017), pp. 1–2. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/fs_arms_industry_2016.pdf.

  The U.K. has sent £4.7 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia: “The UK Has Licensed at Least £4.7bn of Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia Since the Start of the Yemen War.” Full Fact (September 7, 2018). https://fullfact.org/news/uk-has-licensed-least-47bn-arms-exports-saudi-arabia-start-yemen-war/.

  $110 billion arms deal: Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, “Fact Sheet: U.S. Security Cooperation with Saudi Arabia” (October 16, 2018). https://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/2018/279540.htm.

  more than 57,000 Yemenis: Melissa Pavlik, “Fatalities in the Yemen Conflict.” Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (last updated November 8, 2018). https://www.acleddata.com/2018/11/08/fatalities-in-the-yemen-conflict/.

  More than 2 million have been displaced: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Yemen Update (21st September–12th October 2018).” https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen%20Update%2021%20Sept-%2012%20October%202018%20FINAL.pdf. For information on famine, see also “Half the Population of Yemen at Risk of Famine: UN Emergency Relief Chief.” UN News Agency (October 23, 2018). https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/10/1023962.

  In June 2017, the Senate voted to clear the first part of the deal: Jeremy Herb, “Senate Narrowly Votes to Back Saudi Arms Sale.” CNN (June 13, 2017). https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/13/politics/senate-saudi-arms-deal-paul/index.html.

  death rate is 31 times greater than officially acknowledged: Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal, “The Uncounted.” New York Times (November 17, 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/16/magazine/uncounted-civilian-casualties-iraq-airstrikes.html.

  in the United States, the vast majority of terror attacks are by white supremacists: David Neiwert, Darren Ankrom, Esther Kaplan, and Scott Pham, “Homegrown Terror.” Reveal, the Center for Investigative Reporting (June 22, 2017). https://apps.revealnews.org/homegrown-terror/.

  In Europe, the vast majority of terror attacks are by native-born Europeans: Amanda Taub, “Shutting Down Immigration Won’t Solve Europe’s Terrorism Problem.” Vox (March 22, 2016). https://www.vox.com/2016/3/22/11285962/brussels-attack-refugees-immigration.

  8. CLIMATE CHANGE

  “You can drastically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions”: Michael B. Gerrard, “America Is the Worst Polluter in the History of the World. We Should Let Climate Change Refugees Resettle Here.” Washington Post (June 25, 2015). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-is-the-worst-polluter-in-the-history-of-the-world-we-should-let-climate-change-refugees-resettle-here/2015/06/25/28a55238-1a9c-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html.

  a fifth of the world’s population will be affected by floods by 2050: Jonathan Watts, “Water Shortages Could Affect 5bn People by 2050, UN Report Warns.” Guardian (March 19, 2018). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/19/water-shortages-could-affect-5bn-people-by-2050-un-report-warns.

  at least 200 million people will be displaced by climate change: International Organization for Migration, “IOM Outlook on Migration, Environment and Climate Change” (2014), p. 38. http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/mecc_outlook.pdf.

  “In some parts of the world, national borders”: Coral Davenport, “Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040.” New York Times (October 7, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html.

  “Toward the end of this century”: Michael B. Gerrard, “America Is the Worst Polluter in the History of the World. We Should Let Climate Change Refugees Resettle Here.” Washington Post (June 25, 2015). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-is-the-worst-polluter-in-the-history-of-the-world-we-should-let-climate-change-refugees-resettle-here/2015/06/25/28a55238-1a9c-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html.

  Since 1992, 4.2 billion people: United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, Nature-Based Solutions for Water: The United Nations World Water Development Report 2018 (Paris: UNESCO, 2018), p. 17. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002614/261424e.pdf.

  three-year drought, the worst in the region’s history: Justin Worland, “Middle East Drought That May Contribute to Syrian War Is Worst in 900 Years, Study Says.” Time (March 3, 2016). http://time.com/4246248/middle-east-drought-that-may-contribute-to-syrian-war-is-worst-in-900-years-study-says/.

  “strong historical linkages between civil war and temperature”: Marshall B. Burke, Edward Miguel, Shanker Satyanath, John A. Dykema, and David B. Lobell, “Warming Increases the Risk of Civil War in Africa.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, no. 49 (December 8, 2009), p. 20670. http://www.pnas.org/content/106/49/20670.

  Heat waves took almost a million people out of the global workforce in 2016: Nick Watts, Markus Amann, Nigel Arnell, Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Kristine Belesova, Helen Berry, Timothy Bouley, Maxwell Boykoff, Peter Byass, Wenjia Cai, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Jonathan Chambers, Meaghan Daly, Niheer Dasandi, Michael Davies, Anneliese Depoux et al., “The 2018 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change: Shaping the Health of Nations for Centuries to Come.” Lancet (November 28, 2018). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32594-7/fulltext.

  For every degree Celsius increase in temperature: Chuang Zhao, Bing Liu, Shilong Piao, Xuhui Wang, David B. Lobell, Yao Huang, Mengtian Huang, Yitong Yao, Simona Bassu, Philippe Ciais, Jean-Louis Durand, Joshua Elliott, Frank Ewert, Ivan A. Janssens, Tao Li, Erda Lin, Qiang Liu, Pierre Martre, Christoph Müller, Shushi Peng, Josep Peñuelas, Alex C. Ruane, Daniel Wallach, Tao Wang, Donghai Wu, Zhuo Liu, Yan Zhu, Zaichun Zhu, and Senthold Asseng, “Temperature Increase Reduces Global Yields.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 35 (August 29, 2017), p. 9326. http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/114/35/9326.full.pdf.

  At 1.5 degrees, corn yields shrink by 10 percent: Jeremy Hodges, “Food Crops from Corn to Rice Are Seen at Risk from Warmer Change.” Bloomberg (October 8, 2018). https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-08/food-crops-from-corn-to-rice-are-seen-at-risk-from-warmer-change.

  In 2018, India experienced the worst water crisis: “Half of India’s Population Does Not Have Access to Safe Water: Niti Aayog.” Huffington Post (June 15, 2018). https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/06/14/half-of-india-s-population-does-not-have-access-to-safe-water-niti-aayog_a_23459543/.

  The Indian mortality rate from heat-related deaths: Mike Ives, “In India, Slight Rise in Temperatures Is Tied to Heat Wave Deaths.” New York Times (June 8, 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/world/asia/india-heat-deaths-climate.html.

  Americans are only 4 percent of the world’s population but are responsible
for one-third: Justin Gillis and Nadja Popovich, “The U.S. Is the Biggest Carbon Polluter in History. It Just Walked Away from the Paris Climate Deal.” New York Times (June 1, 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/01/climate/us-biggest-carbon-polluter-in-history-will-it-walk-away-from-the-paris-climate-deal.html.

  America creates a third of the world’s solid waste: Ann M. Simmons, “The World’s Trash Crisis, and Why Many Americans Are Oblivious.” Los Angeles Times (April 22, 2016). https://www.latimes.com/world/global-development/la-fg-global-trash-20160422-20160421-snap-htmlstory.html. See also Abi Bradford, Sylvia Broude, and Alexander Truelove, “Trash in America: Moving from Destructive Consumption to a Zero-Waste System.” Frontier Group, Toxics Action Center, and U.S. PIRG Education Fund (February 12, 2018). https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/trash-america.

  consumes a fifth of the world’s energy: U.S. Energy Information Administration, “U.S. Share of World Energy Consumption, 2016” (last updated October 31, 2018). https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=87&t=1.

  The average American uses as much energy as 35 Indians: Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss, “Use It and Lose It: The Outsize Effect of U.S. Consumption on the Environment.” Scientific American (last accessed December 5, 2018). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-consumption-habits/. See also World Bank, “Electric Power Consumption (kWh per capita),” OECD/IEA Statistics, 2014. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.ELEC.KH.PC?year_high_desc=true.

  In National Geographic’s Greendex study: “Increased Fears About Environment, but Little Change in Consumer Behavior, According to New National Geographic/GlobeScan Study.” National Geographic Greendex (September 26, 2014). http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/26/greendex/.

  After Hurricane Maria, half a million Puerto Ricans: Martín Echenique, “Exodus: The Post-Hurricane Puerto Rican Diaspora, Mapped.” CityLab (March 13, 2018). https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/03/exodus-the-post-hurricane-puerto-rican-diaspora-mapped/555401/.

  land that is currently home to 650 million people may be underwater: Gregor Aisch, David Leonhardt, and Kevin Quealy, “Flooding Risk from Climate Change, Country by Country.” New York Times (September 23, 2014). https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/upshot/flooding-risk-from-climate-change-country-by-country.html. Further information in “New Analysis Shows Global Exposure to Sea Level Rise.” Climate Central Research Report (September 23, 2014). http://www.climatecentral.org/news/new-analysis-global-exposure-to-sea-level-rise-flooding-18066.

  At the other extreme, by 2050, much of the world: Josh Gabbatiss, “More Than Quarter of World’s Land Could Become Arid Due to Global Warming, Finds Study.” Independent (January 3, 2018). https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/global-warming-world-land-arid-desertification-climate-change-study-a8139896.html.

  “Twenty million people could be displaced in Bangladesh”: Harriet Grant, James Randerson, and John Vidal, “UK Should Open Borders to Climate Refugees, Says Bangladeshi Minister.” Guardian (December 4, 2009). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/nov/30/rich-west-climate-change.

  According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, since 2008, 22.5 million people: Lauren Markham, “A Warming World Creates Desperate People.” New York Times (June 29, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/opinion/sunday/immigration-climate-change-trump.html. See also Lauren Markham, “The Caravan Is a Climate Change Story.” Sierra (November 9, 2018). https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/root-migration-climate-change-caravan-central-america.

  Since the 1950s, the average temperature in the country has risen: Climate Change Adaptation, Thought Leadership and Assessments (ATLAS), “Climate Change Risk Profile: El Salvador.” United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (April 2017). https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/2017_USAID%20ATLAS_Climate%20Change%20Risk%20Profile_El%20Salvador.pdf.

  Category 3, 4, and 5 hurricanes will increase by 11 percent in frequency: Chris Mooney, “Category 6? Climate Change May Cause More Hurricanes to Rapidly Intensify.” Washington Post (September 11, 2018). https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/09/11/category-climate-change-may-cause-more-hurricanes-rapidly-intensify/.

  Between 2008 and 2014, 184 million people had to run away from their homes: Didier Burkhalter, “Fleeing Floods, Earthquakes, Droughts and Rising Sea Levels: 12 Lessons Learned About Protecting People Displaced by Disasters and the Effects of Climate Change.” Nansen Initiative (November 2015). https://www.nanseninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/12-LESSONS-LEARNED.pdf.

  The water in Lake Chad has shrunk by 90 percent since 1963: United Nations Security Council, “Better Governance of Underfunded, Poorly Managed Lake Chad Basin Key to Resolving Conflict, Suffering Across Region, Speakers Tell Security Council” (March 22, 2018). https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13259.doc.htm.

  Twelve million people are at risk of starvation in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia: Somini Sengupta, “Hotter, Drier, Hungrier: How Global Warming Punishes the World’s Poorest.” New York Times (March 12, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/climate/kenya-drought.html.

  In China, the desert has advanced south and east twenty-one thousand square miles: Josh Haner, Edward Wong, Derek Watkins, and Jeremy White, “Living in China’s Expanding Deserts.” New York Times (October 24, 2016). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/24/world/asia/living-in-chinas-expanding-deserts.html.

  daytime temperatures in the Colombian coastal city of Santa Marta: Maya Oppenheim, “Colombians Warned Not to Have Sex as Intense Heatwave Continues.” Independent (August 19, 2018). https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/colombians-warned-too-hot-sex-santa-marta-julio-salas-a8498126.html.

  “The impacts of climate change may cause instability in other countries”: United States Department of Defense, 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap (2014). https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/downloads/CCARprint_wForward_e.pdf.

  Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal: Oliver Milman, “Carbon Emissions: Coal Reliance Puts Australia Second on OECD’s Dirt List.” Guardian (January 10, 2014). https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/10/carbon-emissions-australias-growth-puts-it-near-top-of-oecd-rankings.

  It will cost $16.5 billion and proposes to extract 2.3 billion tons of coal: Stephen Long, “Adani Plans to Export Low Quality, High Ash Coal to India, Court Told.” ABC Australia (April 2, 2017). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-03/adani-plans-to-export-low-quality-coal-to-india-report-says/8409742.

  130 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere: Michael Slezak, “Why Adani’s Planned Carmichael Coalmine Matters to Australia—and the World.” Guardian (August 15, 2017). https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/16/why-adanis-planned-carmichael-coalmine-matters-to-australia-and-the-world.

  Five million Bavarians decided they’d had enough: Tim McDonnell, “Did President Trump’s Ancestors Migrate to the United States Because of a Changing Climate?” Washington Post (November 21, 2017). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/21/did-donald-trumps-ancestors-migrate-to-america-because-of-a-changing-climate.

  “In the not-so-distant future, places like Phoenix and Tucson”: Jeff Goodell, “Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration.” Rolling Stone (February 25, 2018). https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/welcome-to-the-age-of-climate-migration-202221/.

  “That China, still an emerging economy”: Qi Ye, “China’s Peaking Emissions and the Future of Global Climate Policy.” Brookings Institution (September 12, 2018). https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2018/09/12/chinas-peaking-emissions-and-the-future-of-global-climate-policy/.

  both countries increased their forest cover in the past few years: Samuel Osborne, “India’s Forest and Tree Cover Increases by 1% over Two Years, Report Finds.” Independent (February 14, 2018). https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-forest-tree-cover-increase-climate-change-environment-global-warming-deforestation-a8209371.html.

  Environmental pollution kills 9 million pe
ople a year: Susan Brink, “Report: Pollution Kills 3 Times More Than AIDS, TB and Malaria Combined.” NPR (October 19, 2017). https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/19/558821792/report-pollution-kills-3-times-more-than-aids-tb-and-malaria-combined.

  9. THE POPULISTS’ FALSE NARRATIVE

  Take a look at Hungary, where Viktor Orbán has forced out the Central European University: Marc Santora, “George Soros-Founded University Is Forced Out of Hungary.” New York Times (December 3, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/world/europe/soros-hungary-central-european-university.html.

  Or Poland, whose ruling party purged the judiciary: Marc Santoa, “Poland’s Holocaust Law Weakened After ‘Storm and Consternation.’” New York Times (June 27, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/world/europe/poland-holocaust-law.html.

  stoking voters’ fear of migrants, promising to ban new immigrants: BBC News, “Europe and Nationalism: A Country-by-Country Guide” (September 10, 2018). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36130006.

  “Europe needs to get a handle on migration”: Patrick Wintour, “Hillary Clinton: Europe Must Curb Immigration to Stop Rightwing Populists.” Guardian (November 22, 2018). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/22/hillary-clinton-europe-must-curb-immigration-stop-populists-trump-brexit.

  In 2015, Israeli soldiers fired on African migrants: Gili Cohen, “Migrants Wounded by Israeli Army Fire While Crossing Egypt Border.” Haaretz (August 6, 2015). https://www.haaretz.com/migrants-wounded-by-idf-fire-while-crossing-egypt-border-1.5383528.

  In December 2017, the Knesset passed a law: Marissa Newman, “Ahead of Mass Deportations, Knesset Extends Restrictions on Migrants.” Times of Israel (December 11, 2017). https://www.timesofisrael.com/ahead-of-mass-deportations-knesset-toughens-restrictions-on-migrants/.

  In the year after the Brexit vote, hate crimes in England and Wales jumped by 29 percent: BBC News, “Rise in Hate Crime in England and Wales” (October 17, 2017). https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41648865.