Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Environmentally Informed Migration in North America

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
International Handbook of Population and Environment

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 10))

Abstract

The natural environment shapes North American settlement patterns by pulling people toward natural resources and amenities and, to a lesser extent, pushing them away from hazards. Environmental management and disaster recovery policies have minimized concerns with settlements in hazardous places. However, in the Anthropocene era, more frequent and intense environmental hazards threaten to overwhelm society’s capacity to protect against hazard-related death and destruction. This chapter reviews research on three types of environmental migration in North America: amenity migration, natural hazards-related migration, and anthropogenic hazards-related migration. Spatial and social forces are found to strongly influence all three types of environmental migration. The chapter concludes by focusing on research that identifies the places and people that are most vulnerable to climate change-related migration, and the policies and practices that influence residential location decisions, particularly those influencing residential mobility after disasters. As the climate crisis unfolds, such policies are more likely to inform environmental migration behavior in North America.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, North America is defined as the United States and Canada. Other chapters of the handbook cover Latin America and the Caribbean.

  2. 2.

    The first US decennial census was taken in 1790, counting all free whites and enslaved blacks. Censuses were taken every ten years since and, beginning in 1860, included American Indians living off reservations and those living on reservations in 1900 (US Census, n.d.-a). The Canadian decennial census began in 1871 and included all residents, including aboriginals (Statistics Canada, n.d.).

  3. 3.

    Conceptually, migration involves a change of usual residence (Lee, 1966). However, migration has spatial and temporal dimensions, and may sometimes reference migrants’ agency or volition (Fussell, 2012; McLeman, 2014). The spatial dimension refers to the type of boundary crossed, most commonly distinguishing between international and internal boundaries, or the characteristics of origin and destination, such as rural-to-urban or rural-to-rural moves. Most environmental migrants choose nearby destinations within national boundaries (Findlay, 2011). The temporal dimension of migration involves duration as well as frequency of moves, and may be described as seasonal, temporary, recurrent, continuous, indefinite, or permanent (McLeman, 2014). Most measures of migration impose temporal or spatial criteria, making it difficult to compare across studies and data sets. Designations of migrations as voluntary or involuntary are even more challenging since migrants rarely report their reason for moving. This dimension is viewed typically as a continuum (Hugo, 1996; Fussell, 2012).

References

  • Adams, H., & Kay, S. (2019). Migration as a human affair: Integrating individual stress thresholds into quantitative models of climate migration. Environmental Science and Policy, 93, 129–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W. N., Arnell, N. W., & Tompkins, E. L. (2005). Successful adaptation to climate change across scales. Global Environmental Change, 15(2), 77–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W. N., Lorenzoni, I., & O’Brien, K. L. (2009). Adaptation now. Adapting to climate change: Thresholds, values, governance. In W. N. Adger, I. Lorenzoni, & K. L. O’Brien (Eds.), (pp. 1–22). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N., & O’Brien, K. (2012). Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 3, 112–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderton, D. L., Anderson, A. B., Oakes, J. M., & Frasier, M. (1994). Environmental equity: The demographics of dumping. Demography, 31(2), 21–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakkensen, L. A., Fox-Lent, C., Read, L. K., & Linkov, I. (2017). Validating resilience and vulnerability indices in the context of natural disasters. Risk Analysis, 37(5), 982–1004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldassarre, D., Giuliano, H. K., Vorogushyn, S., Aerts, J., Arnbjerg-Nielsen, K., Barendrecht, M., Bates, P., Borga, M., Botzen, W., Bubeck, P., De Marchi, B., Llasat, C., Mazzoleni, M., Molinari, D., Mondino, E., Mard, J., Petrucci, O., Scolobig, A., Biglione, A., & Philip J. Ward. (2018). Hess opinions: An interdisciplinary research agenda to explore the unintended consequences of structural flood protection. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 22, 5629–5637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardsley, D. K., & Hugo, G. J. (2010). Migration and climate change: Examining thresholds of change to guide effective adaptation decision-making. Population and Environment, 32(2–3), 238–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barile, J. P., Binder, S. B., & Baker, C. K. (2019). Recovering after a natural disaster: Differences in quality of life across three communities after Hurricane Sandy. Applied Research in Quality of Life, Online first: April 18, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, J. M. (2007). Rising tide: The great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America. Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddle, J. (2008). Explaining the spread of residential air conditioning, 1955–1980. Explorations in Economic History, 45, 402–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bilsborrow, R. E., & Henry, S. J. F. (2012). The use of survey data to study migration-environment relationships in developing countries: Alternative approaches to data collection. Population and Environment, 34(1), 113–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binder, S. B., & Greer, A. (2016). The devil is in the details: Linking home buyout policy, practice, and experience after Hurricane Sandy. Politics and Governance, 4(4), 97–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, R., Neil Adger, W., Arnell, N. W., Dercon, S., Geddes, A., & Thomas, D. S. G. (2011). The effect of environmental change on human migration. Global Environmental Change, 21S, S3–S11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borden, K. A., Chmidtlein, M. C. S., Emrich, C. T., Piegorsch, W. W., & Cutter, S. L. (2007). Vulnerability of U.S. cities to environmental hazards. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 4(2), Article 5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boruff, B. J., Emrich, C., & Cutter, S. L. (2005). Erosion vulnerability of US coastal counties. Journal of Coastal Research, 21(4), 932–942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boustan, L. P., Kahn, M. E., Rhode, P. W., & Yanguas, M. L. (2020). The effect of natural disasters on economic activity in US counties: A century of data. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 23410, Accessed on September 30, 2020 at: https://www.nber.org/papers/w23410

  • Bronen, R., & Chapin, F. S. (2013). Adaptive governance and institutional strategies for climate-induced community relcoations in Alaska. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 110(23), 9320–9325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W. M., & Scott, D. M. (2012). Human capital location choice: Accounting for amenities and thick labor markets. Journal of Regional Science, 52(5), 787–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brulle, R. J., & Pellow, D. N. (2006). Environmental justice: Human health and environmental inequalities. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullard, R. D. (1994). Dumping in dixie: Race, class and environmental quality. Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burby, R. J. (2001). Flood insurance and floodplain management: The US experience. Environmental Hazards, 3, 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burby, R. J. (2006). Hurricane Katrina and the paradoxes of government disaster policy: Bringing about wise governmental decisions for hazardous areas. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 604, 171–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, E., Gillett, N., Bonsal, B., Cohen, S., Derksen, C., Flato, G., Greenan, B., Shepherd, M., & Zhang, X. (2019). Canada’s changing climate report. Government of Canada. https://changingclimate.ca/

  • Cahoon, L. S., Herz, D. E., Ning, R. C., Polivka, A. E., Reed, M. E., Robison, E. L., & Weyland, G. D. (2006). The current population survey response to Hurricane Katrina. Monthly Labor Review, August 2006: 40–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian Dam Association. (n.d.). Regulation of Dams in Canda. Website accessed July 14, 2019: https://www.cda.ca/EN/Dams_in_Canada/Regulation/EN/Da ms_In_Canada_Pages/Regulation.aspx

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., & Rosenthal, S. S. (2008). Local amenities and life-cycle migration: Do people move for jobs or fun? Journal of Urban Economics, 65, 519–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • City of New Orleans. (2015). Resilient New Orleans: Strategic actions to shape our future city. Accessed 15 July 2019 at: http://resilientnola.org

  • Council of Canadian Academies. (2019). Canada’s top climate change risks. The Expert Panel on Climate Change Risks and Adaptation Potential, Council of Canadian Academies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covi, M. P., & Kain, D. J. (2016). Sea-level rise risk communication: Public understanding, risk perception, and attitudes about information. Environmental Communication, 10, 612–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronon, W. (1991). Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. WW Norton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronon, W. (1996). The trouble with wilderness: Or, getting back to the wrong nature. Environmental History, 1(1), 7–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowder, K., & Downey, L. (2010). Interneighborhood migration, race, and environmental hazards: Modeling microlevel processes of environmental inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 115(4), 1110–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crutzen, P. J. (2002). Geology of mankind, Nature: 415, 3 January 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, K. J., & Schneider, A. (2011). Understanding the demographic implications of climate change: Estimates of localized population predictions under future scenarios of sea-level rise. Population and Environment, 33, 28–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S. L., & Finch, C. (2008). Temporal and spatial changes in social vulnerability to natural hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(7), 2301–2306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S. L., Boruff, B. J., & Shirley, W. L. (2003). Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 84(2), 242–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dandy, J., Horwitz, P., Campbell, R., Drake, D., & Leviston, Z. (2019). Leaving home: Place attachment and decisions to move in the face of environmental change. Regional Environmental Change, 19, 615–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Sherbinin, A. (2014). Climate change hotspots mapping: What have we learned? Climatic Change, 123, 23–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Sherbinin, A., Bukvic, A., Rohat, G., et al. (2019). Climate vulnerability mapping: A systematic review and future prospects. WIREs Climate Change, 2019, 10:e600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diez-Roux, A. V. (1998). Bringing context back into epidemiology: Variables and fallacies in multilevel analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 88(2), 216–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downey, L., Crowder, K., & Kemp, R. J. (2017). Family structure, residential mobility, and environmental inequality. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79, 535–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dronkers, J., Gilbert, J. T. E., Butler, L. W., Carey, J. J., Campbell, J., James, E., McKenzie, C., Misdorp, R., Quin, N., Ries, K. L., Schroder, P. C., Spradley, J. R., Titus, J. G., Vallianos, L., & von Dadelszen, J. (1990). Coastal zone management. Climate change: The intergovernmental panel on climate change response strategies. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, J. R. (2015). Natural hazards and residential mobility: General patterns and racially unequal outcomes in the United States. Social Forces, 93(4), 1723–1747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, J. R., & Howell, J. (2017). Beyond disasters: A longitudinal analysis of natural hazards’ unequal impacts on residential instability. Social Forces, 95(3), 1181–1207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emrich, C. T., & Cutter, S. L. (2011). Social vulnerability to climate-sensitive hazards in the Southern United States. Weather, Climate, and Society, 3, 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esnard, A.-M., Sapat, A., & Mitsova, D. (2011). An index of relative displacement risk to hurricanes. Natural Hazards, 59, 833–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, Y., & Jawitz, J. W. (2019). The evolution of human population distance to water in the USA from 1790 to 2010. Nature Communications, 10, 430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fekete, A. (2009). Validation of a social vulnerability index in context to river-floods in Germany. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 9, 393–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferris, E. (2014). Planned relocations, disasters, and climate change: Consolidating good practices and preparing for the future. Background paper, Sanremo Consultation, Sanremo, Italy, March 12–14. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. www.brook ings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/03/14-plan ned-relocations-climate-change/planned-relocations-b ackground-paper-march-2014.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, C. B., Barros, V., Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Dokken, D. J., Ebi, K. L., Mastrandrea, M. D., Mach, K. J., Plattner, G.-K., Allen, S. K., Tignor, M., & Midgley, P. M. (Eds.). (2012). Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finch, C., Emrich, C., & Cutter, S. L. (2010). Disaster disparities and differential recovery in New Orleans. Population and Environment, 31(4), 179–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Findlay, A. M. (2011). Migrant destinations in an era of environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 21S, S50–S58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan, B. E., Gregory, E. W., Hallisey, E. J., Heitgerd, J. L., & Lewis, B. (2011). A social vulnerability index for disaster management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 8(1), Article 3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fossett, M. (2006). Urban and spatial demography (Chapter 16). In D. L. Poston & M. Micklin (Eds.), Handbook of population (pp. 479–524). New York, Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fothergill, A., & Peek, L. A. (2004). Poverty and disasters in the United States: A review of recent sociological findings. Natural Hazards, 32(1), 89–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fothergill, A., Maestas, E. G. M., & Darlington, J. A. D. R. (1999). Race, ethnicity, and disasters in the United States: A review of the literature. Disasters, 23(2), 156–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, J., Elmore, R., Godschalk, D., & Rohe, W., (2003). Implementing floodplain land acquisition programs in urban localities. The Center for Urban & regional studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill FEMA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, W. H., & Speare, A. (1988). Regional and metropolitan growth and decline in the United States. Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frickel, S., & Elliott, J. R. (2018). Sites unseen: Uncovering hidden hazards in American cities. Russell Sage Foundation.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fuguitt, G. V., & Beale, C. L. (1993). The changing concentration of the older nonmetropolitan population, 1960–90. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 48(6), 278–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuguitt, G. V., & Heaton, T. B. (1995). The impact of migration on the nonmetropolitan population age structure, 1960–1990. Population Research and Policy Review, 14, 215–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fussell, E. (2012). Space, time, and volition: Dimensions of migration theory. In M. R. Rosenblum & D. J. Tichenor (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the politics of international migration. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fussell, E., & Harris, E. (2014). Homeownership and housing displacement after Hurricane Katrina among low-income African-American mothers in New Orleans. Social Science Quarterly, 95(4), 1086–1100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fussell, E., Sastry, N., & VanLandingham, M. (2010). Race, socioeconomic status, and return migration to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Population and Environment, 31, 20–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fussell, E., Hunter, L. M., & Gray, C. L. (2014). Measuring the environmental dimensions of human migration: The demographers’ toolkit. Global Environmental Change, 28(1), 182–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fussell, E., Curran, S. R., & Dunbar, M. D. (2017). Weather-related hazards and population change: A study of hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States, 1980–2012. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 669(1), 146–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, M. T. (2016). Why is coastal retreat so hard to implement? Understanding the political risk of coastal adaptation pathways. Ocean and Coastal Management, 130, 107–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gornitz, V. (1991). Global coastal hazards from future sea level rise. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology (Global Planetary Change Section), 89, 379–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotham, K. F. (2014). Racialization and rescaling: Post-Katrina rebuilding and the Louisiana Road Home Program. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(3), 773–790.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graves, P. E. (1980). Migration and climate. Journal of Regional Science, 20, 227–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, T. F., & Olshansky, R. B. (2012). Rebuilding housing in New Orleans: The Road Home Program after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Housing Policy Debate, 22(1), 75–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M. J. (1997). Internal migration in developed countries (Chapter 12). Handbook of population and family economics, volume 1, Part B: 647–720.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, A., & Binder, S. B. (2017). A historical assessment of home buyout policy: Are we learning or just failing? Housing Policy Debate, 27(3), 372–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, J. N. (1989). American exodus: The dust bowl migration and Okie culture in California. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groen, J. A., & Polivka, A. E. (2010). Going home after hurricane Katrina: Determinants of return migration and changes in affected areas. Demography, 47(4), 821–844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann, M. P., & Field, V. (2010). Katrina in historical perspective: Environment and migration in the U.S. Population and Environment, 31, 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann, M. P., Deane, G. D., Lauster, N., & Peri, A. (2005). Two population-environment regimes in the Great Plains of the United States, 1930–1990. Population and Environment, 27(2), 191–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, L. C., Saito, K., Loring, P. A., Lammers, R. B., & Huntington, H. P. (2016). Climigration? Population and climate change in Arctic Alaska. Population and Environment, 38, 115–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvatt, J., Petts, J., & Chilvers, J. (2011). Understanding householder responses to natural hazards: Flooding and sea-level rise comparisons. Journal of Risk Research, 14, 63–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauer, M. E., Evans, J. M., & Mishra, D. R. (2016). Millions projected to be at risk from sea-level rise in the continental United States. Nature Climate Change, 6, 691–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauer, M. E., Hardy, R. D., Mishra, D. R., & Pippin, J. S. (2019). No landward movement: Examining 80 years of population migration and shoreline change in Louisiana. Population and Environment, 40(4), 369–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauer, M. E., Fussell, E., Mueller, V., Burkett, M., Call, M., Abel, K., McLeman, R., & Wrathall, D. (2020). Sea-level rise and human migration. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1, 28–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hino, M., Field, C. B., & Mach, K. J. (2017). Managed retreat as a response to natural hazard risk. Nature Climate Change, 7, 364–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsiang, S. (2016). Climate econometrics. Annual Review of Resource Economics, 8, 43–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsiang, S., Kopp, R., Jina, A., Rising, J., Delgado, M., Shashank, M., Rasmussen, D. J., Muir-Wood, R., Wilson, P., Oppenheimer, M., Larsen, K., & Houser, T. (2017). Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States. Science, 356, 1362–1369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugo, G. (1996). Environmental concerns and international migration. International Migration Review., 30(1), 105–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, L. M. (2005). Migration and environmental hazards. Population and Environment, 26(4), 273–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, L. M., & Menken, J. (2015). Will climate change shift demography’s ‘normal science’? Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 13, 23–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, L. M., White, M. J., Little, J. S., & Sutton, J. (2003). Environmental hazards, migration, and race. Population and Environment, 25(1), 23–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, L. M., Luna, J. K., & Norton, R. M. (2015). Environmental dimensions of migration. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 377–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, H. P., Loring, P. A., Gannon, G., Gearheard, S. F., Craig Gerlach, S., & Hamilton, L. C. (2018). Staying in place during times of change in Arctic Alaska: The implications of attachment, alternatives, and buffering. Regional Environmental Change, 18, 489–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Joint Commission. (2000). Living with the Red: A Report to the Governments of Canada & the U.S. on Reducing Flood Impacts in the Red River Basin. Website accessed 14 July 2019: https://www.ijc. org/en/living-red-report-governments-canada-us-reduc ing-flood-impacts-red-river-basinx000d

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. M., & Beale, C. L. (1994). The recent revival of widespread population growth in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. Rural Sociology, 59, 655–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. M., Voss, P. R., Hammer, R. B., Fuguitt, G. V., & McNiven, S. (2005). Temporal and spatial variation in age-specific net migration in the United States. Demography, 42(4), 791–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keenan, J. M., Hill, T., & Gumber, A. (2018). Climate gentrification: From theory to empiricism in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Environmental Research Letters, 13(5), Article 054001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopp, R. E., Shwom, R. L., Wagner, G., & Yuan, J. (2016). Tipping elements and climate-economic shocks: Pathways toward integrated assessment. Earth’s Future, 4, 346–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koslov, L. (2016). The case for retreat. Public Culture, 28(2(79)), 359–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraan, C., Mach, K. J., Miyuji H., Siders, A.R., Johnston, E. M., Tsai, Y.-L., & Field, C. B.. (2019). The landscape of voluntary property buyouts to manage flood risk in the United States. Presentation from National Adaptation Forum and Managed Retreat Conference. https://www.nationaladaptationforum.org/program/wednesday/concurrent-sessions-4/relocation-and-innovative-solutions-managing-future-flood-risk

  • Lang, R. E., Popper, D. E., & Popper, F. J. (1995). “Progress of the nation”: The settlement history of the enduring American frontier. Western Historical Quarterly, 26, 289–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E. S. (1966). A theory of migration. Demography, 3(1), 47–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leifert, H. (2018). Dividing line: The past, present and future of the 100th Meridian. Earth. January 2018. Accessed 6 July 2019. https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/dividing-line-past-present-and-future-100th-meridian

  • Lemmen, D. S., & Warren, F. J. (2016). Synthesis: Canada’s marine coasts in a changing climate. In D. S. Lemmen, F. J. Warren, T. S. James, & C. S. L. M. Clarke (Eds.), (pp. 17–26). Government of Canada. Accessed 15 July 2019 at: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/files/pdf/NRCAN_fullBook%20%20accessible.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, J. (2014). The power to react: Review and discussion of Canada’s emergency measures legislation. The International Journal of Human Rights, 18(2), 159–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, J. R., Issar, S., & Zengwang, X. (2016). Trapped in place?: Segmented resilience to hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, 1970–2005. Demography, 53(5), 1511–1534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, J., & Siu, H. E. (2016). Refugees from dust and shrinking land: Tracking the Dust Bowl migrants. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 22108. Accessed: http://www.nber.org/papers/w22108

  • Loughran, K., & Elliott, J. R. (2019). Residential buyouts as environmental mobility: Examining where homeowners move to illuminate social inequities in climate adaptation. Population and Environment, 41, 52–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ludy, J., & Kondolf, G. M. (2012). Flood risk perception in lands “protected” by 100-year levees. Natural Hazards, 61, 829–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynn, K. A. (2017). Who defines ‘whole’: An urban political ecology of flood control and community relocation in Houston, Texas. Journal of Political Ecology, 24, 951–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, J. K., & Peterson, K. (2018). A community-based model for resettlement: Lesson from coastal Louisiana. In R. McLeman & F. Gemmenne (Eds.), Routledge handbook of environmental displacement and migration (pp. 289–299). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, J. K., Shearer, C., Bronen, R., Peterson, K., & Lazrus, H. (2013). The impact of climate change on tribal communities in the US: Displacement, relocation, and human rights. Climatic Change, 120, 601–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manson, G. A., & Groop, R. E. (2000). U.S. Intercounty migration in the 1990: People and income move down the urban hierarchy. The Professional Geographer, 52(3), 493–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marino, E. (2012). The long history of environmental migration: Assessing vulnerability construction and obstacles to successful relocation in Shishmaref, Alaska. Global Environmental Change, 22, 374–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín, C., & McTarnaghan, S. (2019). Institutionalizing urban resilience. A midterm monitoring and evaluation report of 100 resilient cities. Accessed 16 July 2019 at: http://www.100resilientcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/100RC-2018-Urban-Institute-Midterm-Repo rt.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, P. (2015). Engagement of demographers in environmental issues from a historical perspective. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 13, 15–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGranahan, G., Balk, D., & Anderson, B. (2007). The rising tide: Assessing the risks of climate change and human settlements in low elevation coastal zones. Environment & Urbanization, 19(1), 17–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeman, R. A. (2011). Settlement abandonment in the context of global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 21S, S108–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeman, R. (2014). Climate and human migration: Past experiences, future challenges. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeman, R. (2018). Thresholds in climate migration. Population and Environment, 39(4), 319–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeman, R. A., & Smit, B. (2006). Migration as adaptation to climate change. Climatic Change, 76(1–2), 31–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLeman, R. A., Dupre, J., Ford, L. B., Ford, J., Gajewski, K., & Marchildon, G. (2013). What we learned from the dust bowl: Lessons in science, policy, and adaptation. Population & Environment, 25, 417–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, D. E., & Keeler, A. (2013). A coupled physical and economic model of the response of coastal real estate to climate risk. Nature Climate Change, 3, 559–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohai, P., & Saha, R. (2007). Racial inequality in the distribution of hazardous waste: A national-level reassessment. Social Problems, Volume, 54(3), 343–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohai, P., & Saha, R. (2015). Which came first, people or pollution? Assessing the disparate siting and post-siting demographic change hypothesis of environmental justice. Environmental Research Letters, 10, Article115008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohai, P., Pellow, D., & Roberts, J. T. (2009). Environmental justice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 34, 405–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrow-Jones, H. A., & Morrow-Jones, C. R. (1991). Mobility due to natural disaster: Theoretical considerations and preliminary analyses. Disasters, 15, 126–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Wildlife Federation. (1998). Higher ground: A report on voluntary property buyouts in the nation’s floodplains. Washington, DC, http://www.nwf.org

  • Northcott, H. C., & Petruik, C. R. (2013). Trends in the residential mobility of seniors in Canada, 1961–2006. The Canadian Geographer, 57(1), 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oulahen, G., Mortsch, L., Tang, K., & Harford, D. (2015). Unequal vulnerability to flood hazards: “Ground truthing” a social vulnerability index of five municipalities in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105(3), 473–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pais, J. F., & Elliott, J. R. (2008). Places as recovery machines: Vulnerability and neighborhood change after major hurricanes. Social Forces, 86(4), 1415–1453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pais, J. F., Crowder, K., & Downey, L. (2014). Unequal trajectories: Racial and class differences in residential exposure to industrial hazard. Social Forces, 92(3), 1189–1215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parton, W. J., Gutmann, M. P., & Ojima, D. (2007). Long-term trends in population, farm income, and crop production in the Great Plains. Bioscience, 57(9), 737–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge, M. D. (2010). The dueling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining US engines of growth. Papers in Regional Science, 89(3), 513–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pastor, M., Sadd, J., & Hipp, J. (2001). Which came first? Toxic facilities, minority move-in and environmental justice. Journal of Urban Affairs, 23, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, W. G., Dash, N., Zhang, Y., & Van Zandt, S. (2018). Post-disaster sheltering, temporary housing, and permanent housing recovery (Chapter 27). In H. Rodríguez, E. L. Quarantelli, & R. R. Dynes (Eds.), Handbook of disaster research (pp. 569–594). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pebley, A. R. (1998). Demography and the environment. Demography, 35(4), 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke, R. A., Jr., Gratz, J., Landsea, C. W., Collins, D., Saunders, M. A., & Musulin, R. (2008). Normalized hurricane damage in the United States: 1900–2005. Natural Hazards Review, 9, 29–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piguet, E., Kaenzig, R., & Guélat, J. (2018). The uneven geography of research on “environmental migration.”. Population and Environment, 39, 357–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plane, D. A., & Jurjevich, J. R. (2009). Ties that no longer bind? The patterns and repercussions of age-articulated migration. The Professional Geographer, 61(1), 4–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plane, D. A., Henrie, C. J., & Perry, M. J. (2005). Migration up and down the urban hierarchy and across the life course. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America., 102(43), 15313–15318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preston, B. (2013). Local path dependence of US socioeconomic exposure to climate extremes and the vulnerability commitment. Global Environmental Change, 23(4), 719–732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Public Safety Canada.(n.d.).DisasterAssistancePrograms. Websiteaccessed August 29, 2019: https://www. publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/mrgnc-mngmnt/rcvr-dsstrs/dsstr -ssstnc-prgrms/index-en.aspx.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiang, Y. (2019). Disparities of population exposed to flood hazards in the United States. Journal of Environmental Management, 232, 295–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radeloff, V. C., Helmers, D. P., Kramer, H. A., Mockrin, M. H., Alexandre, P. M., Bar-Massada, A., Butsic, V., Hawbaker, T. J., Martinuzzi, S., Syphard, A. D., & Stewart, S. I. (2018). Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(13), 3314–3319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakow, L. F., Belter, B., Dyrstad, H., Hallsten, J., Johnson, J., & Indvik, K. (2003). The talk of movers and shakers: Class conflict in the making of a community disaster. Southern Journal of Communication, 69(1), 37–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport, J. (2007). Moving to nice weather. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 37, 375–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rappaport, J., & Sachs, J. D. (2003). The United States as a coastal nation. Journal of Economic Growth, 8, 5–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid, C. E., O'Neill, M. S., Gronlund, C. J., Brines, S. J., Brown, D. G., Diez-Roux, A. V., & Schwartz, J. (2009). Mapping community determinants of heat vulnerability. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(11), 1730–1736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reidmiller, D. R., Avery, C. W., Easterling, D. R., Kunkel, K. E., Lewis, K. L. M., Maycock, T. K., & Stewart, B. C. (2018). Fourth national climate assessment. In Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States (Vol. II). US Global Change Research Program.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruttan, V. W. (1993). Population growth, environmental change, and innovation: Implications for sustainable growth in agriculture. In C. L. Jolly & B. B. Torrey (Eds.), Population and land use in developing countries (pp. 124–156). National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saha, R., & Mohai, P. (2005). Historical context and hazardous waste facility siting: Understanding temporal patterns in Michigan. Social Problems, 52(4), 618–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sastry, N., & Gregory, J. (2014). The location of displaced New Orleans residents in the year after Hurricane Katrina. Demography, 51, 753–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, A., Wamsley, G., & Ward, R. (2001). The evolution of emergency management in America: From a painful past to a promising but uncertain future. In A. Farazmand (Ed.), Handbook of crisis and emergency management (pp. 357–418). Marcel Dekker, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, J., & Elliott, J. R. (2013). Natural disasters and local demographic change in the United States. Population and Environment, 34(3), 293–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shallat, T. (1994). Structures in the stream: Water, science, and the rise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shumway, J. M., & Otterstrom, S. M. (2001). Spatial patterns of migration and income change in the mountain west: The dominance of service-based, amenity-rich counties. The Professional Geographer, 53(4), 492–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siders, A. R. (2017). Past US floods give lessons in retreat. Nature, 548, 281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siders, A. R. (2019). Social justice implications of US managed retreat buyout programs. Climatic Change, 152, 239–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simms, J. R. Z. (2017). “Why would I live anyplace else?”: Resilience, sense of place, and possibilities of migration in coastal Louisiana. Journal of Coastal Research, 33(2), 408–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. K., & McCarty, C. (1996). Demographic effects of natural disasters: A case study of Hurricane Andrew. Demography, 33(2), 265–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. K., & McCarty, C. (2009). Fleeing the storm(s): An examination of evacuation behavior during Florida’s 2004 hurricane season. Demography, 46(1), 127–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2011). Canada’s rural population since 1851. Website. Accessed 8 July 2019: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-310-x/98-310-x2011003_2-eng.cfm

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2018). Canada goes urban. Website. Accessed 8 July 2019: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015004-eng.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (n.d.). History of the Census of Canada. Website. accessed July 6, 2019: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census01/Info/history.cfm#1871

  • Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are humans now overwhelming the great forces of nature? Ambio, 36(8), 614–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, P. D., & Day, F. A. (2004). Types of rapidly growing counties of the US, 1970–1990. The Social Science Journal, 41, 251–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tate, E., Strong, A., Kraus, T., & Xiong, H. (2016). Flood recovery and property acquisition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Natural Hazards, 80(3), 2055–2079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thieler, R. E., & Hammar-Klose, E. S. (1999). National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: Preliminary results for the US Atlantic Coast. US Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-593. Website accessed July 31, 2019: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/of99-593/

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (n.d.). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A brief history. Website accessed July 6, 2019: https://www.usace.army.mil/About/History/Brief-History-of-the-Corps/

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). United States summary: 2010: Population and housing unit counties, 2010 Census of population and housing. CPH-2-1. U.S> Department of Commerce, economics and statistics Administration. Accessed 12 July 2019: https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.-a). Censuses of American Indians. Website Accessed 6 July 2019: https: //www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_ records/censuses_of_american_indians.html

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.-b). Urban Area Quickfacts. Website accessed July 10, 2019: https://www.census. gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/ua-quickfacts.html

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction. (2015). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. 2015–2030. Accessed 15 July 2019: https://www.unisdr.org/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf

  • US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2013). State of the Coast Report Series, National Coastal Population Report: Population Trends from 1970 to 2020. Accessed 15 July 2019 at: https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/training/population-report. html

    Google Scholar 

  • Vale, L. J., & Campanella, T. J. (2005). The resilient city: How modern cities recover from disaster. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vancouver Climate Adaptation Strategy. (2012). https: //vancouver.ca/files/cov/Vancouver-Climate-Change-Ad aptation-Strategy-2012-11-07.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, K. E. (2016). Baby boomer migration and demographic change in US metropolitan areas. Migration Studies, 4(3), 347–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinkle, J., Landsea, C., Collins, D., et al. (2018). Normalized hurricane damage in the continental United States, 1900–2017. Nature Sustainability, 1(12), 808–813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, R. (2011). Railroaded: The transcontinentals and the making of modern America. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wigtil, G., Hammer, R. B., Kline, J. D., Mockrin, M. H., Stewart, S. L., Roper, D., & Radeloff, V. C. (2016). Places where wildfire potential and social vulnerability coincide in the coterminous United States. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25, 896–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B., Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., & Davis, I. (2004). At risk: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters (2nd ed.). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Studies and Training Center, Institute at Brown on Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Elizabeth Fussell

  2. Sociology Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Brianna Castro

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Fussell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brianna Castro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Fussell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Lori M. Hunter

  2. Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Clark Gray

  3. Campus Condorcet, National Institute for Demographic Studies, Aubervilliers Cedex, France

    Jacques Véron

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Fussell, E., Castro, B. (2022). Environmentally Informed Migration in North America. In: Hunter, L.M., Gray, C., Véron, J. (eds) International Handbook of Population and Environment. International Handbooks of Population, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76433-3_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76433-3_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-76432-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-76433-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation