The Geography of Climate-Motivated Migration in the US

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6: Migration, Mobility, and Retreat

Abstract

Among the many anticipated effects of climate change on social life is a wave of “climate migration,” wherein the displaced residents of areas affected by rising temperatures, extreme weather, disrupted growing cycles, and other impacts will be forced to relocate to less acutely affected areas. Typically, climate migration is imagined in ways that mirror existing patterns of migration and reflect global inequalities: the people of already marginalized countries concentrated in the global south are likely to experience some of climate change’s worst impacts, and will be compelled to migrate to world’s economic powers. But climate change is already spurring many kinds of migration involving a wide range of levels of agency and mobility, many of which do not fit this mold. This paper reports on survey data on “climate-motivated” migration within the United States, in which American residents (often proactively) relocate to places identified as comparatively safe and desirable given climate-related concerns. It is part of a larger project on this topic that also includes in-depth interviews with climate-motivated movers on their motivations for moving and the various factors that informed their decisions. The goal of the analysis presented here is to provide a descriptive, birds-eye view of the phenomenon of climate-motivated migration in the US. Specifically, it examines the geography of this phenomenon using the results of an interactive mapping exercise. Respondents were asked to annotated a map of the US to indicate first regions they viewed as particularly vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change and second, to indicate regions they viewed as safe and desirable given climate change concerns. Along with the interview analysis in the larger project, this analysis contributes to a more robust perspective on migration and climate change by capturing the internal patterns of climate-motivated movement of relatively agentic and mobile populations.

Author

• Andrew McCumber, Virginia Tech