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Updated: May 28, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
Published on: April 24, 2017
Migration in the context of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change: insights from analogues
Robert A McLeman1, Lori M Hunter
1Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
Abstract:
Migration is one of the variety of ways by which human populations adapt to environmental changes. The study of migration in the context of anthropogenic climate change is often approached using the concept of vulnerability and its key functional elements: exposure, system sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. This article explores the interaction of climate change and vulnerability through review of case studies of dry-season migration in the West African Sahel, hurricane-related population displacements in the Caribbean basin, winter migration of 'snowbirds' to the US Sun-belt, and 1930s drought migration on the North American Great Plains. These examples are then used as analogues for identifying general causal, temporal, and spatial dimensions of climate migration, along with potential considerations for policy-making and future research needs.
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