The John Batchelor Show

S1 Ep44: Climate Migration Is Inevitable: The Global South, the Four Horsemen, and the Necessity of Movement. Gaia Vince's book, Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World, examines the statistics warning that the climate of the near future will b

Nov 1, 2025
Gaia Vince, a prominent science journalist and author of *Nomad Century*, dives into the pressing issue of climate-driven migration. She highlights Abel Cruz's poignant story, a farmer forced to abandon his village due to drought, and the harsh realities of life in Lima’s slums. Vince identifies the "four horsemen of the Anthropocene"—fire, heat, flood, and drought—driving people from the global south to move northwards. This discussion sheds light on the urgent need for action as our planet's climate conditions shift dramatically.
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ANECDOTE

Farmer's Displacement To Lima Slums

  • Abel Cruz left his Andean village because drought destroyed his ability to farm.
  • He arrived in Lima only to end up squatting in a slum with polyethylene shelters and precarious services.
INSIGHT

Climate Migration Is Already Underway

  • Gaia Vince says climate migration is already happening and will increase.
  • She describes village depopulation in the Andes as droughts and lost glacial meltwater force people out.
ANECDOTE

How Migration Networks Create Slums

  • Vince documents how brokers organize desperate villagers to squat on peripheral land in Lima.
  • Those migrants then live without piped water or sanitation, relying on expensive water trucks and improvised latrines.
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