On the Move by Abrahm Lustgarten

ON THE MOVE by Abrahm Lustgarten is subtitled “The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America.” Lustgarten, an investigative journalist for ProPublica, points to several main factors that have already begun to impact movement in the USA: wildfires; flooding (especially in coastal regions); extreme heat or humidity; and droughts. He vividly cites research such as: “Scientists estimate that as many as one in three people on the planet will find the places they live unmanageably hot or dry by 2070.” In the USA alone, he notes that five million climate migrants “could translate to a shift of fifty million additional people by the end of the century.” His perspective – that our lack of preparation for climate change will intensify differences between rich and poor – is supported by his extensive and disturbing research. For example, he notes that “a study published in 2021 in the journal Cities examining the resilience policies of the 101 largest U.S. cities found that 31 of them had no policies whatsoever, and that only 33 had conducted any sort of evaluation of their climate vulnerability.” Lustgarten argues that even when change is attempted (as described in Atlanta or New Orleans), it often results in waves of gentrification, further separating communities. He goes so far as to say that “Climate change, however, is about to make the differences between winners and losers so extreme that they will threaten the underpinnings of the American economy and security.” Is it any wonder that we see declines in the happiness scale, especially for younger Americans? Lustgarten attempts to balance this by including a more uplifting section involving a discussion with an urban planner in Detroit who “recognizes that people are often prejudiced against refugees…. [and asks] what's a narrative that might galvanize people to see opportunity in welcoming outsiders?” Much to consider and to investigate further; ON THE MOVE contains multiple pages of notes and bibliographic references, plus an index. Other recent texts on this high interest topic of climate migration include Jack Bittle’s The Great Displacement and Nomad Century by Gaia Vince.