Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World
- Downloads：7458
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-09-01 10:19:37
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Gaia Vince
- ISBN：B0BC9WQJMF
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
BEATRICE
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A little pushy and a lot depressing but worth reading。 It’s only 200 pages but packs in lots of mouth opening facts about climate change。 I read a review which did ask who the audience was for the book and I agree。 It really feels like an open letter to politicians globally。 But I did love this quote: “climate change is everything change， because climate is the fabric on which we weave our lives”
Brian Clegg
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At risk of saying what everyone else is saying， this is a really important book， because it's covering something that hardly anyone seems to be thinking about， but that has a huge impact on our future。 It's not really a climate change science book - for that you'd be better off with something like Bill McGuire's Hothouse Earth - it's more about the politics and economics of dealing with a huge impact of climate change will have - mass migration。Arguably this means it isn't really a science book At risk of saying what everyone else is saying， this is a really important book， because it's covering something that hardly anyone seems to be thinking about， but that has a huge impact on our future。 It's not really a climate change science book - for that you'd be better off with something like Bill McGuire's Hothouse Earth - it's more about the politics and economics of dealing with a huge impact of climate change will have - mass migration。Arguably this means it isn't really a science book at all （anyone who thinks economics is a real science either doesn't know what science is， or doesn't know what economics is）。 However， because the impending crisis is driven by a scientific issue， and has to respond to scientific forecasts， I think it's worth thinking of it within the popular science canon。 What Gaia Vince does very powerfully is show how the changing climate is going to force humanity into large scale migration， with most likely well over a billion people needing to move away from the hottest regions， either within countries or internationally。Vince is very good on the implications of what she describes as the 'four horsemen of the Anthropocene' - fire， heat， drought and flooding。 At the time the book is published， thousands are dying in floods in Pakistan， in a year when we've experienced wildfires， extreme heat and lack of water for crops across the world。 As Vince makes clear， while settled people will cling on longer that is strictly feasible， there comes a point when they have to move， becoming refugees - and this will happen on a scale that far exceeds anything we've experienced in the past。A lot of the book focusses on what will be necessary to deal with such a scale of migration。 Vince is convincing in pointing out the benefits of having migrant workers - how they don't suppress wages， but rather boost the economy， as long as they become part of the community where they move into and so spend money in that economy。 She is also good at highlighting all the barriers that are in place that will make it difficult to deal with mass migration。 This is a massive wake-up call that we have to start thinking about things differently - as soon as possible。Vince knows that this won't be easy - but she does tend to underestimate what has to be overcome。 There's a good argument here that refugees， if allowed to work， don't 'take our jobs'， but when it comes to the extra resources that are needed to support them， Vince resorts to hand-waving。 We read for example 'There are obvious triggers: immigration can put pressure on host communities when housing， schools， healthcare and other services becomes strained。 This can be avoided through careful planning and adequate investment from governments to manage the costs and delivery of services for the enlarged population。' But at a time when governments are struggling to cover costs of a pandemic and a global energy and food price crisis， it's hard to see where all the money would come from for new housing， schools etc。 - especially when there's not enough provision already。Similarly， it's hard to see how Vince's vision of the UN becoming a sort of worldwide EU （bearing in mind all the problems the EU has） would work in practice。 Not only is this unlikely in terms of imagining countries like the US， China and Russia would buy into it， but also it's not at all clear where its money would come from。 We read 'funds to assist city expansion could come from the new global body for this， the UN Organisation for Global Migration （with powers）， which would ease the pain。' But where would that money come from， except the countries that need the money in the first place？As far as individual input to reduce the impact of climate change， Vince is good on almost all the things we can do like eating less meat and not driving petrol cars。。。 however， like most academics， she has a blind spot when it comes to frequent flying。 She repeatedly mentions how she travels all over the place， visiting different continents。 But she fails to say that by far the biggest impact a frequent flyer has on climate change is their flying。 There's a huge element of 'do as I say， not as I do' - but academics have to realise this has to stop。 No more jollies to conferences。 No more visiting distant places to do research when local researchers can do this on your behalf。 And one final moan。 I'm a big enthusiast for nuclear fusion， but Vince's claim that 'the first fusion reactors could start entering grids by 2030' is fantasy， as anyone who has followed the industry over its many decades would realise。As is often the case with a book like this， then， it is far better on the problems than the solutions。 But that doesn't make it any less important， because， unlike climate change itself， the problems described here have not been widely grasped by politicians or the public。 This is a book anyone involved or interested in public policy should be reading as a matter of urgency， with the hope that some realistic solutions can be developed。 。。。more
donna backshall
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I would give this five stars， but Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World was a super dense book， even for a science nerd like me。 I had to read it in small spurts， because there was simply too much to absorb。 I feel like it could have been presented in an easier-to-digest way， so it felt less like a textbook and more everyman friendly。Plus， it was disheartening， even though the author tried desperately to infuse hope into her message。 If we get everything right， and turn thi I would give this five stars， but Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World was a super dense book， even for a science nerd like me。 I had to read it in small spurts， because there was simply too much to absorb。 I feel like it could have been presented in an easier-to-digest way， so it felt less like a textbook and more everyman friendly。Plus， it was disheartening， even though the author tried desperately to infuse hope into her message。 If we get everything right， and turn things around， which seems quite the stretch with the "I got mine" mentality running rampant in the world， and especially in America， then we might be okay。 Might。 But will the right people hear the message and act for the good of all？ Or should we all start planning to move to Iceland？My sons claim I won't stop talking about this book， and that means it's impacting me in all the right ways。 I'm a better person for knowing， but also terrified。 What can just one person do？ I guess we'll find out。 。。。more
Melanie785
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This book starts by talking about immigration through climate change which has already started happening。 Vince has good discussion points on why immigration is not bad， and actually improves the country they are entering。 There is discussion on what we have been doing and what we should be doing along with the consequences of what will happen if we do little or nothing。 This is a very thought-provoking book on many hot button topics。 I received an audio copy of these book thought NetGalley for This book starts by talking about immigration through climate change which has already started happening。 Vince has good discussion points on why immigration is not bad， and actually improves the country they are entering。 There is discussion on what we have been doing and what we should be doing along with the consequences of what will happen if we do little or nothing。 This is a very thought-provoking book on many hot button topics。 I received an audio copy of these book thought NetGalley for an honest review。 。。。more
Karen
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Very thought-provoking。 There is a lot of discussion around climate change， but looking at it from the angle of how it will impact where people can live and how this will change our world is interesting。 I've always wanted to live on the coast。。。 maybe I'll get a chance someday。。。 but how long would that coast be there？ I enjoyed the discussion about how immigration affects local economies as well。 We've spent so long destroying the planet， we need to start figuring out how to fix it。 Lots of id Very thought-provoking。 There is a lot of discussion around climate change， but looking at it from the angle of how it will impact where people can live and how this will change our world is interesting。 I've always wanted to live on the coast。。。 maybe I'll get a chance someday。。。 but how long would that coast be there？ I enjoyed the discussion about how immigration affects local economies as well。 We've spent so long destroying the planet， we need to start figuring out how to fix it。 Lots of ideas here and plenty to think about。Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Simms
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I'm not sure who this book is really for。。。 The book is part explication of the dire consequences of a potential 4°C warming of global temperatures， part prediction of the ways human society will or may have to change due to migration， part suggestion of policies and plans that could or should be implemented to either slow the temperature rise or effectively deal with the migration 。。。 with mixed results。 As a warning of the effects of climate change， it is grim and unreassuring， as it no doubt I'm not sure who this book is really for。。。 The book is part explication of the dire consequences of a potential 4°C warming of global temperatures， part prediction of the ways human society will or may have to change due to migration， part suggestion of policies and plans that could or should be implemented to either slow the temperature rise or effectively deal with the migration 。。。 with mixed results。 As a warning of the effects of climate change， it is grim and unreassuring， as it no doubt is meant to be; indeed， the book seems most effective as a piece of scaremongering to get people motivated to address the climate （and I say that in the most positive sense）。 As a prediction of the changes to come， it is a mixed bag， sometimes intriguing （such as the discussion of projected changes in habitable zones in Greenland or Canada） and sometimes head-scratchingly pat （such as when the author flatly predicts that the greening of the electrical grid will have been accomplished by the time her children are in their 30s）。 The book also seems to entirely disregard predictions of any political ramifications of the predicted changes， including conflict; mass migration seems to be expected with tremendous peaceful cooperation between nations。 I understand that prediction of such geopolitical factors is wildly difficult， but without them it raises questions of the utility of the entire exercise。Likewise it is mixed as a collection of policy proposals。 Many are quite reasonable， if vague， but they are often things that the reader cannot possibly affect unless they work specifically in the fields of public policy or urban planning， or in the government more generally; more to the point， much of the suggestions regard the author's theorized newly-built cities in the far north， which are decades or more away from reality -- hopefully these urban-planning or government-employed readers are quite young！ In other cases the proposals are vague to the point of irrelevancy or seem unmoored from reality， such as when the author proposes that private aircraft be banned unless they are electric （with seemingly little regard to the energy-density problems that render cost-effective all-electric air travel a pipe dream with current technology）。 In the end， the only real actionable takeaway the reader can get from this book is a broad "be more concerned about climate change！" （unless one is lucky enough to be a teenager who is dying to go into urban planning and has a really great memory）。 That's a fine lesson， to be sure， but reading 280-odd pages to get it is perhaps not worth the time commitment， and most people who are interested and receptive enough to the book's premise to actually pick it up are already going to be onboard。Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC。 。。。more
Kevin Halter
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