Climate change and unsustainable living conditions will expedite the problem of migration, says a group of experts at a major science conference at Washington. United Nations has projected that global north will be flooded by 50 million environmental refugees.

The report mentions how southern Europe is already facing the troubles of migration and the frequency of migrants flooding in from Africa is on a rise.

Asia too is not far behind. Extreme weather conditions in Pakistan, Malaysia, China and Sri Lanka has forced their citizens to relocate as it was too harsh to sustain. 2010 saw lots of people migrating from these places and the condition seems to be aggravating with every year.

Environmental refugees were first described in 2001 by Norman Myers of Oxford University as "a new phenomenon" created by climate change. These are people who can no longer stay at their place because of an insecure environment like rugged topography, soil erosion, deforestation and calamities like draught etc.

Apart from population accumulation, migration brings in economic strains as well. Sending countries may experience both gains and losses in the short term but may stand to gain over the longer term. For receiving countries temporary programs help to address skills shortages but may decrease domestic wages and add to public welfare burden.