The term "climate refugees" generally refers to the subset of environmental migrants forced to move due to sudden or gradual alterations in the natural environment related to at least one of three impacts of climate change, including changes resulting from sea-level rise, extreme weather events, or drought and water scarcity.  Although there is no universally accepted definition of climate refugee, the International Organization for Migration has established the following criteria:

-Persons displaced not only by an environmental event but also by deteriorating environmental conditions;

-Environmentally induced movement can take place within as well as across international borders;

-It can be both long and short term; and

-Population movements triggered by environmental forces can be forced as well as a matter of choice.