A new study has found that the climate crisis is killing migrants crossing the United States border from Mexico.
Many of the people who made the dangerous trip died of dehydration, but a team of American scientists found that most of the travelers died specifically in the area between Nogales, Mexico and Three Point, Arizona. This is an area within the Sonoran desert.
The study found that the region had a concentration of places with the highest expected loss of water through evaporation.
Those around him suffer from confusion and organic failure that can lead to death; The researchers concluded that more men died from dehydration than women.
The study concluded that 30 years from now, even in a “medium mitigation” scenario, people would be expected to lose one-third more water on a trip across the southern border of the United States than they would today.
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The image shows the recorded deaths of 93 men (top) and 28 women (bottom) who were traveling on foot in southern Arizona. Black dots indicate individual deaths, while red indicates areas where deaths are most likely to be recorded
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The study was conducted by scientists from the University of Idaho, Princeton University, the University of California, and the University of Wisconsin, who sought to quantify the costs, in terms of water loss through breathing and sweating, the travel immigration and the scope of the difference. These costs correspond to patterns of immigrant mortality.
Ryan Long, associate professor of wildlife sciences at the University of Idaho and lead author of the study, said in a statement statement: Over the past decades, thousands of men, women, and children have died trying to circumvent border protection efforts and cross from Mexico into the United States.
“Because the official ports of entry are heavily fortified, many immigrants attempt to enter the United States by crossing remote desert areas.”
The team determines which parts of the crossing are the most dangerous using georeferenced records of adult male and female deaths recorded between 1981 and 2019, focusing on those who died between May and September, when the hottest and driest weather arrives and most of the migrant deaths. occur, carbon summary reports.
It is common knowledge that many people who take a dangerous trip die of dehydration, but a team of American scientists found that the majority of travelers die in the area between Nogales, Mexico and Three Points, Arizona. This is an area within the Sonoran desert (stock)
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The study shows that the amount of drinking water carried by a typical immigrant is likely not enough to prevent a severe drought, and this shortage will only increase as the weather warms. In the photo are bottles of water found up to the United States.
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Using the Niche Mapper biophysical model, the scientists calculated how many people were dehydrated at different points in the flight.
This allowed them to identify the places most susceptible to dehydration.
Different levels of dehydration were then administered: from “extreme dehydration,” in which people lose more than 10 percent of their body mass in a single day due to water loss, to “mild dehydration,” in which people people lose zero to five percent.
The study included quotes from migrants who crossed the crossing, describing their experiences with someone who explained how widespread the drought was.
Lucho, a 47-year-old immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, said in an interview in June 2009: “We were dying of thirst. I was delirious at the time. We were surrounded by land but I kept seeing water everywhere in the desert. . ”
Taking a deeper look, the team found that people will experience more water loss in June. Black dots indicate individual deaths, while red indicates areas where deaths are most likely to be recorded
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The data shows that, on average, a 152-pound pregnant woman would be expected to lose two gallons of water during a day trip, while a 41-pound woman would lose five cups.
Taking a deeper look, the team found that people will experience more water loss in June.
Long said the study shows that the amount of drinking water carried by the average immigrant is likely not enough to prevent a severe drought, and that the shortage will increase as the weather warms.
“We provide the first experimental evidence that the physiological stress experienced by humans attempting to cross the Sonoran desert into the United States is sufficient to cause severe dehydration and associated conditions that can lead to death,” Long said.
Our study provides strong evidence that the mortality patterns of migrants in the desert can be explained by the spatio-temporal variation in physiological costs that occurred during the trip; A disproportionately large proportion of migrant deaths occur in areas where expected rates of water loss are highest.
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