Nomad Century

March 1, 2022

Global migration has doubled in the past decade, with billions set to be displaced in the coming decades, and a large reason is climate change bringing fire, drought, violent storms, and disappearing shorelines in its wake. Award-winning science journalist Vince argues that we aren't yet acknowledging how and how much climate change will reconfigure human geography, and here she sets out to show us. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

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May 30, 2022
Journalist Vince (Transcendence) warns of a “great upheaval” in global migration resulting from climate change in this bracing clarion call. “Fleeing the tropics, the coasts and formerly arable lands, huge populations will need to seek new homes,” she writes; “you will be among them, or you will be receiving them.” In taking size of the current state of the world, Vince looks back at hundreds of thousands of years of crises and the human responses to them: “whether for exploration and adventure, from disaster to safety, for a new land of opportunity... under duress and by kidnap,” Vince argues, migrations have a long history of having “transformed” the world. She lays out a course of action for the coming decades, considering international borders (making a case with some strong stats on how immigration can improve a country’s economy, and noting that “opening borders doesn’t have to mean no borders”), the changing nature of urban environments (“Around the world, the most successful migrant cities tend to be dense but not too high”), and the need for strong social welfare policies as well as infrastructure investment (she suggests building geographically distributed low-income housing “so there are no ‘pure’ rich-only or native only neighbourhoods”). Assertive and provocative, Vince’s work is worth a look for policymakers concerned about the future of the planet.

July 29, 2022
In her new book, British science journalist Vince addresses what she terms "the elephant in the room" regarding global warming: that for much of the world, conditions are becoming so extreme, adaptation is impossible. She takes readers through a litany of climate change's devastating impacts, from fire to heat, drought, and flood, complete with charts and graphs, then pivots to a history of human migration. The historical reference leads to a consideration of how, since countries currently engage in "supply migration" through international trade, human migration can be treated in a similar mode. She acknowledges national boundary arguments, but stresses they must be dismissed in light of the climate emergency and what she believes will follow: a "conflict-ridden world with great loss of life and perhaps the end of our civilizations." In the closing chapters Vince addresses efforts to mitigate the climate crisis, but remains steadfast in her migration argument. The information is densely packed, which can render it more useful for academics than curious readers. Consider primarily for specialized collections.

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