Climate Migrants: On the Move in a Warming World

by Rebecca E. Hirsch

Overview

Around the world, from US coastal towns to island nations of the Pacific and the deserts of Africa, people are in danger of losing their homes. Some have already fled. Others know they are running out of time. By 2050, at least 25 million people will be driven from their homes due to the effects of climate change.



Droughts, desertification, rising sea levels, melting permafrost, and severe storms are drastically redefining the planet's landscape and leaving many places unable to support human populations. Although developing nations are especially vulnerable to the impacts of extreme climate shifts, ultimately, people in wealthy countries will also be forced to migrate. Experts expect Americans to move from drought-ravaged California, sea-swept Florida, and numerous other vulnerable areas to crowd into the few remaining safe havens.



Humans cannot stop climate change altogether. Yet leaders can minimize the damage by curbing carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change and by adapting communities to better withstand climate-related stresses. Even so, for many people, relocation is already a reality. How they adjust to their new homes—and how their new communities adjust to them—will set the stage for a future defined by a warming planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467793414
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	1230L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Rebecca E. Hirsch, PhD, is the author of numerous books about science, nature, and geography for children. She lives with her husband and three children in State College, Pennsylvania. You can visit her online at rebeccahirsch.com.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Warmer World 4

Chapter 2 Rising Tides 20

Chapter 3 Disaster in the Desert 34

Chapter 4 Coasts in Crisis 46

Chapter 5 The Future of Climate Migration 60

Glossary 76

Source Notes 78

Selected Bibliography 82

Further Information 84

Index 86

Editorial Reviews

"Hirsch reveals how climate change can directly impact human populations on lands currently undergoing environment-related transformations. Hirsch argues that millions are displaced by natural disasters each year and this number will continue to grow owing to rising ocean levels, droughts, melting permafrost, and other environmental changes caused by the effects of global warming. The result of these changes will eventually lead to mass migrations. While climate change is not reversible, Hirsch's outlook is not all gloom and doom. World leaders have the potential to take measures to curb carbon emissions and prepare for an influx of people in need of new homes. This is a well-researched study of an important issue, with full-color photographs, maps, graphs, and charts. The book is broken into five sections, each of which addresses a different aspect of the crisis. The final chapter also presents a future of climate change and climate migration. VERDICT: A fitting addition to a classroom or school library. This thorough volume will be useful for reports and discussions on the intersection of environmental and social problems."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/01/2016
Gr 7 Up—Hirsch reveals how climate change can directly impact human populations on lands currently undergoing environment-related transformations. Hirsch argues that millions are displaced by natural disasters each year and this number will continue to grow owing to rising ocean levels, droughts, melting permafrost, and other environmental changes caused by the effects of global warming. The result of these changes will eventually lead to mass migrations. While climate change is not reversible, Hirsch's outlook is not all gloom and doom. World leaders have the potential to take measures to curb carbon emissions and prepare for an influx of people in need of new homes. This is a well-researched study of an important issue, with full-color photographs, maps, graphs, and charts. The book is broken into five sections, each of which addresses a different aspect of the crisis. The final chapter also presents a future of climate change and climate migration. VERDICT A fitting addition to a classroom or school library. This thorough volume will be useful for reports and discussions on the intersection of environmental and social problems.—Kevin McGuire, Woodland Hills School District, PA

School Library Journal

2016-06-28
A sober warning that climate change will become impossible to deny or ignore in the coming decades as mass population centers are rendered uninhabitable and the relocation of millions of people becomes inevitable. Relocation due to climate change is already a reality. Hirsch looks at the examples of Native Alaskan villages in Alaska, the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, and the Sahel region in central Africa. Droughts, desertification, rising sea levels, severe storms, and melting permafrost, all directly caused by climate change, are threatening communities of all sizes as well as entire nations. By 2050, at least 25 million people will be driven from their homes. Hirsch examines the immense logistical challenges and economic costs of relocating so many people, the consequences for communities whose cultural identities are geographically linked, and further environmental damage that will result from these mass migrations. She acknowledges that climate change cannot be stopped altogether but stresses that the consequences can be less catastrophic if nations take immediate steps to curb carbon dioxide emissions and initiate changes enabling communities to withstand climate-related damages and stresses. An accessible, informative, and alarming look at imminent, likely inevitable environmental catastrophes on a global scale. (maps, photos, glossary, source notes, bibliography, further information) (Nonfiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

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