Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 19, 2025
10:28
Investigating the Relationship between Sea Surface Chlorophyll and Major Features of the South China Sea with Satellite Information
Published on: June 13, 2020
6.2K
The changing climate-migration relationship in China, 1989-2011.
Clark Gray1, Douglas Hopping1, Valerie Mueller2,3
1University of North Carolina; Chapel Hill, NC.
Climatic Change
|June 4, 2020
Summary
Climate change initially drove migration, but this effect reversed over time in China. Development and adaptation may reduce future climate-induced displacement, even as climate change continues.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Sociology
- Economics
Background:
- Climate change is a significant driver of population displacement, particularly for vulnerable groups.
- Previous research indicates climate impacts on migration, but the long-term evolution of this relationship with adaptation and development is under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how climatic effects on internal migration in China have changed over time.
- To explore the role of adaptation and development in mediating the relationship between climate anomalies and migration.
Main Methods:
- Linked longitudinal data of 20,000 Chinese adults (1989-2011) with external climate anomaly data.
- Employed statistical analysis controlling for spatial and temporal confounders to assess migration patterns.
- Analyzed income shares to understand shifts in livelihood vulnerability.
Main Results:
- Temperature anomalies initially caused displacement of permanent migrants at the study's start.
- This effect reversed by the end of the study period, indicating a changing relationship.
- Shifting climate vulnerability from agriculture to non-agricultural sectors likely explains this reversal.
Conclusions:
- Development and in-situ adaptation strategies can potentially mitigate climate-induced migration over time.
- Findings suggest a future where climate change unfolds but its impact on migration may decrease.
- Highlights the dynamic interplay between climate, development, and human mobility.
Related Concept Videos
00:53Migration
8.6K
Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
8.6K
01:50Global Climate Change
28.3K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
28.3K
01:16What is Climate?
20.3K
Climate refers to the prevailing weather conditions in a specific area over an extended period. As the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” Climate is influenced by geographic factors, such as latitude, terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.
20.3K
02:45Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
14.5K
Every organism has an optimum temperature range within which healthy growth and physiological functioning can occur. At the ends of this range, there will be a minimum and maximum temperature that interrupt biological processes.
14.5K
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
26.3K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
26.3K
01:11Regression Analysis
7.6K
Regression analysis is a statistical tool that describes a mathematical relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.
In regression analysis, a regression equation is determined based on the line of best fit– a line that best fits the data points plotted in a graph. This line is also called the regression line. The algebraic equation for the regression line is called the regression equation. It is represented as:
In regression analysis, a regression equation is determined based on the line of best fit– a line that best fits the data points plotted in a graph. This line is also called the regression line. The algebraic equation for the regression line is called the regression equation. It is represented as:
7.6K