Migration, Environment and Climate Change

Abstract

Human and hominin migrations have occurred since time immemorial. Settlement, the obverse of migration, requires a suitable climate, available food, lack of mortal threat from disease, societal calm and local acceptance. Thus, migrations are a major human characteristic, well documented by evolution biology and paleoanthropology. Their recent societal and political implications, linked notably with the climate change, have blurred perception of the causes of migration. This chapter seeks to place human migration past and present in a historical context with a focus on environmental drivers. The current concept of “Environmental Refugee” is scrutinized versus historical migrations caused by natural and manmade disasters, including the European Migration Period, the Lisbon Earthquake, the Irish Great Famine, the American Dust Bowl. The seasonal, temporary or permanent movement of people from rural to urban environments across the world is also addressed. We examine the human health and ecological impacts of different types of human migration, including historical episodes such as the European discovery and colonization of the Americas, Australasia and the Pacific Island of Guam. These illustrate how pathogens and nutritional practices can be transferred between human groups and result in infectious and other illnesses, including Guam neurodegenerative disease.