ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 Climate change, health, and migration: the wild card in the deck. The terrifying connection of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to individual and population health in the face of waning mitigation opportunities features in Chapter 7. How are extreme climatic events and slow-onset changes in climate and environmental conditions and attendant ecological, economic, and social disruptions related to population mobility and unequal global health outcomes? In addressing this question, the early warning case of China is examined in-depth, with a focus on air pollution, sea-level rise, and threats to personal, family, and population health. The conclusion is that the popular and political salience of health concerns is driving China to assume a vanguard position in mitigating carbon emissions. Looking toward the future, Chapter 7 considers prospects that massive resettlement of ecological migrants will be required in the absence of powerful emission-mitigation responses. The threats associated with climate change, particularly sea-level rise, have raised awareness that environmental impacts can play a determinant role in reactive and proactive transnational-migration strategies. How will the world care for climate migrants? Will countries that bear special responsibility for exacerbating climate change recognize the interconnected political, economic, and environmental drivers of migration and transform their entry systems accordingly? What are the global health implications if wealthy countries decide to forestall the arrival of climate migrants? Will diasporas become influential actors in climate change mitigation and adaptation? The daunting challenges raised by these and related issues provide the central subject of consideration in Chapter 7.
