The Intersection of Climate Disasters and Migration Patterns in America

Margaret Elysia Garcia tried hard to rebuild her life in Greenville, California after it was devastated by a wildfire in 2021.

But the difficulty of life there — power outages, mud slides, razed streets she could barely recognize — eventually it all became too much. She left her home there and moved to Southern California.

Jake Bittle's new book, The Great Displacement: Climate Change And The Next American Migration, argues that stories like this are becoming more common. From drought-hit farms in Arizona to flooded coastlines in Virginia, it's a close look at the way climate-fueled disasters are forcing people to move.

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