Climate Mass Migration Myth

The paper “Climate Migration Myths,” published in the latest edition of the prestigious journal Nature Climate Change, is a large-scale beat-down of the notion that climate change is causing significant mass migrations. Ingrid Boas (Wageningen University, Netherlands) and her 31 co-authors flatly state that this notion is “without an empirical scientific basis” and that it is a product of a “self-referencing narrative in [the] scientific literature and policy reports.”

In other words, there is no basis for the voluminous reports of climate-induced migration. Yet everyone, from the former President, to university faculty and petit-bureaucrats of all stripes, to media around the world, have embraced this notion, which is a product of “self-perpetuating false claims.” The narrative of climate-induced mass migrations is “biasing” scientific and policy debates “despite the paucity of supporting evidence.” 

Boas et al. propose that we actually do research on climate and migration to determine what link, if any, exists. As the situation stands now, migration “policy dictate[s] the priorities of science.” In other words, the migration cart is before the scientific horse, if indeed there even is one.