“Climate Refugees,” a new episode of the “What Makes Us Human” podcast series, examines how climate change causes economic and political upheaval. The podcast’s fifth season -- "What Do We Know about Inequality?" -- showcases the newest thinking across academic disciplines about inequality.
“Climate change is a threat multiplier: it increases the likelihood of sectarian violence, political conflict, mass migration, malnutrition and starvation, disease and human trafficking. It also deepens global inequality,” says Maria Cristina Garcia, Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies in the Department of History says in her podcast episode.
García is the author of three books on immigration and refugee migration, including “The Refugee Challenge in Post-Cold War America” and “Seeking Refuge: Central American Migration to Mexico, the United States, and Canada.” She is currently completing a book on the environmental origins of refugee migrations.
The “What Makes Us Human?” podcast is produced by the College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Cornell Broadcast Studios and features audio essays written and recorded by Cornell faculty. New episodes are released each Thursday through the spring semester, airing on WHCU and WVBR. The episodes are also available for download on iTunes and SoundCloud and for streaming on the A&S humanities page, where text versions of the essays are also posted.
