climate refugee

[ klahy-mit ref-yoo-jee, ref-yoo-jee ]

noun

1. a person who has had to flee their home due to the negative effects of climate change.

Word History and Origins

Origin of climate refugee¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Kalmus also noted that becoming a climate refugee is not as easy as simply making a choice to move out of a suddenly-uninhabitable location.

From Salon

Recognising the existential threat facing these communities, in November close neighbour Australia offered climate refugee visas to Pacific Islanders.

From BBC

"People have created all sorts of ways to live in more challenging places that flood," Moon reflected to Salon when asked about the likelihood of mass climate refugee crises.

From Salon

News headlines warn of a coming "climate refugee crisis," with rising sea levels spurring mass migration on a "biblical scale."

From Salon

His best friend, the nature writer Barry Lopez, died of prostate cancer that December, three months after a wildfire had burned parts of his home near the McKenzie River in Oregon, making him a climate refugee.

From New York Times