March 15 marked five years of civil war in Syria, which has created 4.8 million refugees. While some researchers have linked the start of the war to a severe drought, others are adamant that climate factors should not be substituted for poor governance and larger economic and political pressures. “These are war refugees. They are not climate refugees,” said Elizabeth Hartmann, professor emerita of development studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Photo courtesy D. Kashavelov / UNHCR via Flickr Creative Commons
Harmanli refugee camp in Bulgaria , 2013 https://www.flickr.com/photos/101268966@N04/10991810835/in/album-72157637933656446/