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. 2024 Sep;132(9):97701.
doi: 10.1289/EHP14632. Epub 2024 Sep 3.

Mapping Climate-Related Hazards along Migration Routes: A Mixed Methods Study of Hypertensive Syrian and Iraqi Refugees Resettled in San Diego, California

Behnan Albahsahli  1 , Anna Dimitrova  2 , Nadine Kadri  3 , Tarik Benmarhnia  2 , Tala Al-Rousan  1
Affiliations

Mapping Climate-Related Hazards along Migration Routes: A Mixed Methods Study of Hypertensive Syrian and Iraqi Refugees Resettled in San Diego, California

Behnan Albahsahli et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 Sep.
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1A depicts the migratory pathways described by surveyed refugees, highlighting nations on the eastern side of the world, such as Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt, as they move towards countries on the western side of the world, including the United States. The number of refugees ranging from 5 to 20 in increments of 5. A scale depicts kilometers ranges up to 1,000 kilometers. Figure 1B displays the transitional sites in the Middle East and North Africa mentioned by the refugees inquired before to resettlement in the United States. The following locations are displayed: Turkey: Istanbul, Canakkale, Yalova, Ankara, Corum, Kirsehir, Afyonkarahisar; Syria: Qamishil, Zakho, Tall Kayf, Irbil, Homs, Al Zabadani, Baghdad, Lebanon, Damascus, Irbid, Amman, Zaatari refugee camp; Egypt: Cario; and Jordan. The number of refugees ranging from 1 to 6 plus in unit increments. A scale depicts kilometers ranges up to 600 kilometers. Figure 1C depicts the total number of climate-related catastrophes documented by subnational administrative units on the eastern side of the planet, including Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. The number of disasters ranges from 1 to 5 in unit increments. A scale depicts kilometers ranges up to 600 kilometers. Figure 1D is a bar graph titled Drought, Extreme temperature, Flood, Landslide, and Storm, plotting number of disasters, plotting 0 to 15 in increments of 5 (y-axis) across Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey (x-axis), respectively.
Figure 1.
Descriptions of migratory routes reported by the surveyed refugees (A and B) and climate-related disasters in the reported transition countries (C and D). (A) The map shows the migration routes from Syria and Iraq to the United States reported by the 67 interviewed refugees; the red arrows indicate the departure and destination countries and the thickness of the lines indicates the number of refugees who took that route. (B) The map shows the transition locations in the MENA region prior to resettlement in the United States reported by the interviewed refugees. (C) The map shows the total number of climate-related disasters recorded per subnational administrative unit between January 1992 and December 2018, the period spanning the refugee journeys prior to resettlement in the United States. (D) The number and type of climate-related disasters recorded per country for the same time period. Data on migratory routes (A and B) are based on interviews with 67 adult refugees residing in San Diego. Data on disasters (C and D) are based on own calculations of climate-related disasters (storms, floods, landslides, extreme temperatures, and droughts) that occurred between January 1992 and December 2018 from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the School of Public Health of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. Spatial boundaries (A–C) were retrieved from Natural Earth (https://www.naturalearthdata.com/) using the “rnaturalearth” package (https://github.com/ropenscilabs/rnaturalearth).
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