Videos – Climate Change and Migration
Topic Key
Climate Adaption
Climate Change Concepts
Climate Migration
Indigenous Perspectives
Sea Level Rise
Adapting Culture to Climate Change
This episode of Sea Grant's Voice of the Sea series explores the connection between culture and place and investigates how scientists, cultural practitioners, and community members are working together to understand and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Run time: 25 minutes
Source: Hawaii Sea Grant
Building Resilience to Climate Change
"By using big data analysis techniques and coupling it with localised information from the internet of things, social media and citizen science, we can now visualize the ever growing imprint of climate change. This talk explores how we can draw on this diversity of knowledge to recreate a more resilient world."
Run time: 16 minutes
Source: TEDxPorto
Can't Stop the Water
"For 170 years, a Native American Cajun community has occupied Isle de Jean Charles, a tiny island deep in the bayous of south Louisiana. Now the land that has sustained them for generations is vanishing before their eyes. Years of gas and oil exploration have ravaged the surrounding marsh, leaving the island defenseless against the ocean tides that will eventually destroy it. As Chief Albert Naquin desperately looks for a way to bring his tribe together on higher ground, those that remain on the island cling to the hope that they can stay."
Run time: 32 minutes
Note: The full film is not currently available for free.
Source: Rebecca and Jason Ferris
Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye | National Geographic
"Climate Change is a real and serious issue. In this video Bill Nye, the Science Guy, explains what causes climate change, how it affects our planet, why we need to act promptly to mitigate its effects, and how each of us can contribute to a solution."
Run time: 4 minutes
Source: National Geographic
Climate Change, Inequitable Impacts & Community Resilience
"In this session of "Climate Is Health," Kristin Baja explains community resilience, introduces the concept of resilience hubs, and what we can do to address the inequities apparent in the impacts of climate change."
Run time: 11 minutes
Source: Putney Pre-College
Climate change is killing crops in Honduras
"In rural Honduras, farming has been many residents’ livelihood for generations. But now, rising temperatures and declining rainfall are killing crops and jeopardizing the farmers’ very survival. Special correspondent Marcia Biggs and videographer Julia Galiano-Rios explore how climate change affects these rural populations, driving them into urban areas and ultimately, even out of the country."
Run time: 9 minutes
Source: PBS NewsHour
Climate change will displace millions...
"Scientists predict climate change will displace more than 180 million people by 2100 -- a crisis of "climate migration" the world isn't ready for, says disaster recovery lawyer and Louisiana native Colette Pichon Battle. In this passionate, lyrical talk, she urges us to radically restructure the economic and social systems that are driving climate migration -- and caused it in the first place -- and shares how we can cultivate collective resilience, better prepare before disaster strikes and advance human rights for all."
Run time: 13 minutes
Source: TED
Climate Gentrification in Little Haiti
"Historically black neighborhoods in South Florida are facing the consequences of climate change in more ways than one. Some fear they'll be priced out of their neighborhoods because of it by what organizers call 'climate gentrification.'"
Run time: 7 minutes
Source: The Root
Climate Refugees
"The film features a variety of leading scientists, relief workers, security consultants, and major political figures. All make a strong case that, whether human-caused or a product of nature, the changing climate is already creating humanitarian disasters and will inevitably lead to worldwide political instability."
Note: The UN now recommends "climate migrants" in place of "climate refugees."
Run time: 3 minutes
Source: The Video Project
How climate change is driving mass migration
"Climate change is forcing more and more people to flee their homes because of flooding, drought and extreme weather. Sub-Saharan Africa and low-lying coastal regions are especially at risk. Experts believe that millions of people will be displaced by climate change over the next half century. In Indonesia people are already affected by rising sea levels."
Run time: 10 minutes
Source: DW News
How Communities Can Adapt to Climate Change
"For many, the concept of “adapting” to climate change feels equivalent to admitting defeat. But climate change’s effects are already being felt today, so adapting will be necessary — and it doesn't have to hurt. Explore how building resilience can have a silver lining."
Run time: 4 minutes
Source: NOVA PBS
How the Climate Crisis Will Force A Massive American Migration
"The climate crisis will profoundly interrupt the way we live and farm in the United States. Extreme heat, massive floods and more fires may force millions of people to move — and millions may be left behind."
This video is accompanied by an interactive article. Learn more here.
Run time: 13 minutes
Source: ProPublica
Indigenous Knowledge Meets Science
"To tackle a problem as large as climate change, we need both science and Indigenous wisdom, says environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. In this engaging talk, she shares how her nomadic community in Chad is working closely with scientists to restore endangered ecosystems -- and offers lessons on how to create more resilient communities."
Run time: 13 minutes
Source: TEDWomen 2019
My Louisiana Love
"Tracing Monique Verdin’s quest to find a place in her Native American community as it suffers from decades of environmental degradation. When she returns to Louisiana to reunite with family, she sees that the traditional way of life is threatened by a cycle of man-made environmental crises. Monique must overcome the loss of her house, her father and her partner, and redefine the meaning of home." For the full documentary, click here.
Run time: 2 minutes
Source: PBS
Nasa's Earth Minute: Sea Level Rise
"For over 20 years NASA has been tracking the global surface topography of the ocean in order to understand the important role it plays in our daily lives. Climate change is causing our ocean to warm and glaciers to melt, resulting in sea level rise."
Run time: 2 minutes
Source: NASA Global Climate Change
New York is building a wall
"Staten Island recently received funding for a nearly 5-mile-long seawall to protect its coast. But the plan raises a lot of questions. We’re living in a dangerously dynamic world: Hurricanes are getting worse, wildfires are rampant in California, extreme heat is melting roads in India, and sea levels continue to rise. Will a wall really be enough to protect our coastal cities?"
Run time: 5 minutes
Source: Vox
Preventing Forced Migration
"The relationship between climate change and migration is complex, tied up in a set of factors that impact people’s need, ability and willingness to move. Target 13.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for improved education, awareness-raising, human and institutional capacity to address climate change mitigation, adaptation, and early warning."
Run time: 7 minutes
Source: International Organization for Migration
Sea Level Rise and the Ala Wai Canal
This episode of Sea Grant's Voice of the Sea series take us inland to explore how rising sea level affects infrastructure, aquifers, and fresh water supplies."
Run time: 25 minutes
Source: Hawaii Sea Grant
The New Face Of Climate Change
"Audelio Mejía’s family has grown corn in the agricultural heart of Central America, known as the Golden Triangle, for three generations. But for the last year, the 50-year-old smallholder farmer has seriously considered migrating north with the help of a coyote. He’s not afraid of gang violence or political persecution, like many migrants who would claim asylum in the U.S. He’s worried about rain — and the lack of it."
Run time: 4 minutes
Source: VICE News
The Next Wave
This video follows the people of Carteret Island, Papua New Guinea and their struggle to relocate as some of the world's first climate change migrants.
Run time: 9 minutes
Source: mediathatmatters
The Vanishing Island
"This short documentary profiles residents of the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, as they confront a future threatened by sinking shorelines and rising seas."
Run time: 9 minutes
Source: The New York Times
NASAJPL: Watching Rising Seas From Space
"Oceanographer Josh Willis from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory narrates this video about the causes of sea level rise and how sea level has changed over the last two decades as observed by the Jason series of satellite missions."
Run time: 2 minutes
Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
What people get wrong about climate change
"One of the common mistakes people make about climate change is saying that it’s about “saving the planet.” But that’s not really the right way to think about it. Earth has gone through immense climate changes many times before, in some cases leading to mass species extinction. Now, we’re living through the onset of human-caused climate change, and slowing it down isn’t about saving the Earth. It’s about saving ourselves. "
Run time: 3 minutes
Source: Vox
Why community is our best chance for survival—a lesson post-Hurricane Maria
"As Christine Nieves learned in the days and weeks following Hurricane Maria, “when disasters happen, the person right in front of you is your best chance at survival.” After Hurricane Maria decimated the physical and material infrastructure of the island of Puerto Rico, Christine began to mobilize what could not be destroyed, the community."
Run time: 17 minutes
Source: TEDMED
Feature-Length Films That Teach About Climate Change
Source: Common Sense Media
