Climate change and climate-inducedmigration (Foresight, 2011) are major global concerns. Thisis true for the MENA region as well. Yet empirical data onhow perceptions of climate change and weather shocks affectmigration in the region are scarce. To what extent areperceived and actual weather shocks and changes in theenvironment driving temporary and permanent migration flows?Do remittances reach households living in climate poorareas, and if so, what is their impact on poverty and humandevelopment? These are some of the questions considered in astudy by Wodon et al. (2014) based on various data sourcesincluding new household surveys for climate affected areasin Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen (the fivecountry sample in this note).In a short summary note asthis one, it is important to be clear at the outset aboutwhat is measured and what is not. It is sometimes said thatClimate is what we expect. Weather is what we get. Simplyput, climate relates to the distribution of variables suchas temperature and rainfall over a long period of time. Thisdistribution is characterized by its moments, including themean and the variance of key climatic variables. Climatechange is then used to refer to the change in thedistribution of rainfall and temperature. However, it isdifficult to tell if the weather experienced at a point intime is due to climate change (the overall mean and varianceof rainfall and temperature) or part of an existing distribution.
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