Climate Change Will Displace Millions. Here's How We Prepare.

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Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Geography

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What it is

In this video, climate justice and human rights lawyer Colette Pinchon Battle describes how millions of individuals are threatened by displacement as coastal cities experience extreme weather events and sea level rise due to climate change, citing Louisiana flood maps as her opening example.
Colette Pinchon Battle explains that Black communities, Indigenous communities, and other historically marginalized communities are disproportionally at risk when it comes to the climate crisis.
Students will learn that preparing economically and socially for mass climate migration will promote resiliency and build community.

Teaching tips

Positives

This video is an excellent resource to explore the social aspects of climate change such as migration, displacement, gentrification, and disaster recovery efforts.
Additional resources for further research into climate action on the Gulf Coast are listed below the video.
A transcript is available in 20 languages.

Additional Prerequisites

Students should be familiar with the concept of sea level rise and other coastal impacts due to climate change.

Differentiation

Before watching this video, social studies classes could explore the concept of migrants. Teachers can ask students to think of reasons why people might migrate and discuss why climate change may be one of the reasons.
This video does not detail many current ways that communities could prepare for displaced individuals from climate change, so this could be an interesting extension to have students research. Students could investigate how communities have welcomed individuals affected by war or violence to understand some strategies for aiding displaced individuals.
Social studies classes may want to use this video on American climate migration or this SubjectToClimate lesson plan on the consequences of climate change to extend the topic.

From the scientist review

According to recent research, climate change could result in over 2 billion climate refugees by the year 2100. In the TED Talk, Colette Pichon Battle goes into depth about what that means and what we can do about it. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Geography
Format: Downloadable MP4/M4V
Language: English
Location: Earth, North America, North America > United States
Provider: TED
Authors: Colette Pichon Battle
Published: June 30, 2022
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · 6.Inq.4.e. + 9 more

Connecticut Climate Education Hub

Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Standards

6.Inq.4.e.Analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes.
6.Geo.2.b.Explain the relationship between the locations of places and regional characteristics using maps and other representations (e.g., religious centers, Nile River flooding, sea level rise in Venice, New Northwest Passage).
6.Eco.1.a.Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses, and societies within a region (e.g., Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, South Asia Food and Nutrition Security Initiative, National Human Development Initiative, FIFA World Cup).
MW.Geo.6.a.Evaluate the impact of settlement on the environmental and cultural characteristics of the early modern world (e.g., hacienda, encomienda, Jesuit missionaries, East India Company, Ottoman Empire, unification of Japan, Indigenous genocide).
MW.Geo.4.a.Analyze the relationships and interactions between growing industry and physical systems to explain reciprocal influences that occur among them (e.g., air pollution, hydropower, mining, dredging).
MW.Geo.10.a.Evaluatehow the cultural and environmental changes caused by industrialization influenced spatial patterns of trade and land use (e.g., Enclosure Movement, Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company, Treaty of Amity and Commerce, Suez Canal).
MW.Geo.5.a.Evaluate the multinational political and economic agreements that have led to changes in cultural and environmental characteristics among and within nations (e.g., European Union, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, North American Free Trade Agreement, Trans-Pacific Partnership, International Monetary Fund).

Connecticut Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ESS3-4.Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.
HS-ESS3-1.Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.
HS-ESS3-3.Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among the management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.

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