5Sea, migration and climate

Faced with these upheavals, humans show inventiveness and resilience. However, sometimes migration becomes the only option — with the risk of losing part of their cultural identity.

On the coast of Senegal, populations have historically depended on fishing. However, for around fifty years, this region has faced numerous disruptions: artisanal and industrial overfishing, warming waters that push marine species northward, and rising sea levels that flood the coastline during extreme events.

The consequences are devastating for all professions linked to fishing: fishermen, fish traders, processors, and equipment manufacturers. Many must change jobs, leave the coast, and sometimes abandon their ancestral traditions and cultures tied to the ocean.

Some choose to migrate to Europe, hoping to build a better future there.

Like all Arctic populations, the Inuit originally are a migrating people. They came in successive waves from Arctic regions of Asia, passing through the Bering Strait. As nomadic hunters, they settled in Greenland, living from fishing and hunting caribou, musk oxen, seals, and whales.

For them, “only time and ice are masters.” Their movements on the sea ice, hunting and fishing seasons, and the abundance of catches depend entirely on climatic conditions.

However, the Arctic is now one of the regions most affected by climate change. Temperatures there have risen by more than 4°C on average, with rain at Christmas, late-forming and shrinking sea ice, warming waters, and thawing ground causing widespread landslides.

The entire Inuit society is affected by these environmental disruptions. Everyone adapts as best they can, changing their activities and customs, migrating to the capital or abroad, or choosing to stay in order to keep Inuit traditions alive.

Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands… these myriad small islands, lying only a few meters above sea level, are highly vulnerable to rising oceans. The average sea level is currently rising by about 3 mm per year due to the melting of continental ice and the thermal expansion of seawater as it warms.

However, this rise is expected to accelerate over the course of the century : by 2100, it could reach at least 1.40 meters, and up to 2 or 3 meters in the following centuries.

Multiple solutions are being explored : raising land levels, building seawalls, relocating certain inhabited areas, agreements for receiving migrants with other states, legal action, development of digital identities, and planned relocations. One thing is certain : tomorrow will look nothing like today for the small Pacific islands and their populations.

The ocean is warming, leading to a cascade of disruptions: altered ocean currents, deoxygenation, devastating cyclones, rising sea levels, and major impacts on marine species, since most of them cannot regulate their body temperature.

Some species are already shifting their habitats to maintain their usual living conditions. However, not all of them can move quickly enough to survive. As a result, a large proportion of coral reefs has already disappeared, along with the biodiversity they host.

These changes have direct effects on human societies, particularly fishing. In tropical regions, fish stocks are sharply declining, affecting populations that are among the least responsible for climate change. At the same time, fishing zones are shifting toward higher latitudes, fueling tensions between countries. Even in temperate regions, commercially important species may disappear in the medium term.

Rising temperatures, ocean acidification, and changes in natural habitats... Climate change has direct consequences on marine species and their ecosystems. Created for the Migration & Climate exhibition, this video illustrates the challenges marine biodiversity faces in the context of rapid change, and highlights why protecting the oceans is now essential for the balance of our planet.