A few months ago, I volunteered with the migrant ministry at Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Diego. I had served there before, but this time, Father Brad Mills, SJ, invited the migrants to share their stories.

One young man had arrived via the notoriously dangerous Darién Gap, 60 roadless miles of dense rain forest, steep mountains, and swamps along the only path connecting Central and South America. In the dim evening light, he vividly confirmed the horrific details of this stretch. Trauma obviously weighed heavily upon his heart. He described the physical challenge and scenes of death. We leaned in, listened, and tried to lift a little of this weight with our compassion, expressed with grave expressions and nods.

I contemplated the entanglement of factors that contribute to human movement, not the least of which is environmental impact. But what role do we, as individuals, play in these complex global dynamics, and what can we do about it?

Complexity of migration
Because we live in a world that is globally connected, our actions at home carry global environmental implications, sometimes life-threatening ones. Therefore, we have a moral obligation to examine these dynamics and think about how our actions are affecting others.

Although no one intended to create the conditions of climate change, we now know our overuse of fossil fuels has produced a powerful excess of carbon in the atmosphere, increasing the average global surface temperature of the planet and resulting in extreme climate variability.

A secondary outcome is increased human mobility, as people are forced to adapt to these new circumstances through migration.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) reports over 100 million people are currently displaced from their homes, with climate change playing a key role in the form of increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather. Both sudden and slow-onset events, such as intense flooding, drought and sea-level rise, have devastating impacts. These hazards threaten housing, livelihoods and the ability for families to grow food as a supplement to what they can afford to buy.

Furthermore, good governance is challenged by these chaotic disruptions and conditions of scarcity, opening the door to conflict and violence instigated by warlords, cartels and other criminal elements.

Most people do not want to leave their homelands. In fact, only the strongest have the capacity to move, with the nearest big city being the most common destination. There, newcomers are typically relegated to the outer slums and find themselves at the whim of gray and black markets for employment.

Crossing international boundaries requires even greater capacity in terms of wealth, professional skill and/or social connections. For the weakest and most vulnerable, movement is not possible, condemning them to life-threatening conditions where they are.

The Catholic international organization Caritas reports 20 million people displaced per year between 2010 and 2020 due to natural disasters and climate change. Some experts argue 1.2 billion could be displaced by 2050. While this may seem a wild projection, 3.3 billion currently live in countries assessed with high human vulnerability to climate change.

Climate-change-producing carbon emissions are predicted to rise further with the development of crypto-currencies and artificial intelligence.

What have we failed to do?
During the season of Lent, we are called to examine our consciences as we do during the sacrament of reconciliation and at the beginning of every Mass. We reflect on the times we have made mistakes, as well as the times we haven’t done what we are called to do….

By Christina Bagaglio-Slentz in the Southern Cross