Robert A. McLeman is a geography professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada, a former diplomat and an award-winning teacher. He specializes in understanding how the natural environment influences the well-being of households and communities. His research investigates historical drought-related migration on the Great Plains, adaptation to climate change in remote and resource-dependent communities, drivers of modern-day settlement abandonment, and the effects of environmental events and conditions in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean on international migration to Canada. In writing this book, Dr McLeman drew his inspiration from years of scholarly research and past professional experiences. His scholarly articles on migration as an adaptation to climate are widely cited, and have featured prominently in reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Government agencies in Canada, Europe and the United States have frequently sought his advice on policy issues related to climate change, migration and security. He is a frequent contributor on environmental issues to French and English-language public radio in Canada and the United States, and enjoys teaching introductory classes and engaging the wider public in citizen science.

Will global warming create millions of environmental refugees? This book provides the first comprehensive review of how past floods, droughts and hurricanes have triggered migration, and provides evidence-based analysis of how livelihoods, settlements, food security, and global political stability are at stake as climate change alters global migration patterns.

1. An introduction to the study of climate and migration; 2. Why people migrate; 3. Migration in the context of vulnerability and adaptation to climatic variability and change; 4. Extreme weather events and migration; 5. River valley flooding and migration; 6. Drought and its influence on migration; 7. Mean sea level rise and its implications for migration and migration policy; 8. Emergent issues in climate and migration research.