Migration

Living organisms often need highly specific environments in order to survive and flourish yet the climate on planet earth changes on yearly cycles so how do creatures living in extreme environments survive these changes? Some plants shed their leaves and basically sleep through the harsher periods while others keep their leaves but have evolved to endure the harsh temperatures through various means. Larger animals store large amounts of energy as fat and hibernate during the winter months while smaller animals, like birds, move to a completely new geographical location in a process that we call, migration.

Population relocation in nature

Different hemispheres of the planet Earth experience winter period at different times of the year, when one hemisphere has winter, the other experiences summer. Because of this, flying animals often tend to travel to the warmer climates during the winter months of their normal habitats and it can be quite a breathtaking sight. Millions of birds flying to a location guided only by instinct, many making the flight for the first time in their lives yet they seem to know exactly where to go and when to do so. This method of surviving harsh periods has been quite successful for many species and it is only recently that they have started encountering problems. Because of changes in climates, the travel patterns of many birds have been altered, meaning death for large numbers of birds in the past few years.

Human population relocation

Just like animals, living conditions can change for humans as well making their present homes unsatisfactory for living, when this happens, humans can also migrate to more accommodating surroundings. Human migration, or more commonly known as immigration, can have many consequences, for both the deserted and receiving countries. The home countries of these people lose valuable labor force, as well as qualified individuals whom the government has possibly invested large amounts of money educating. The destination countries of these immigrants stand to benefit though the citizens of these countries often hold the opinion that these individuals make the lives of the locals harder.

One day, we as a species may be forced to move to a completely new planet since it can seem to some that we are destroying our current one. Unlike the birds and hibernating animals, we can control the effects we have on the environment to keep them in our favor however it seems that we are doing just the opposite and before we know it, we may be the ones responsible for making human migration from planet Earth impossible to avoid.