Environmental Change and its Implications for Population Migration

Environmental change in general, and climatic change in particular, are likely to impact significantly upon resources such as water and soils, transforming present day landscapes and their ecological characteristics. As a consequence, disruptions of socio-economic activities in sensitive regions of the globe can be expected in coming decades. Agriculture is at particular risk, especially in areas where prolonged droughts, sea level rise, enhanced natural hazards, or extreme meteorological events such as floods or mudslides threaten marginal existence. Disruptions and risks may have large effects on population migration. Conversely, large-scale movements of people, goods or capital may also disrupt local environments and further contribute to social problems. This volume provides an ample overview of state-of-the-art understanding of the multi-dimensional phenomenon of migration, in the characterisation of migration drivers, in environmental and agro-economic case studies and modelling issues as well as socio-political analyses.