Shelter from the Storm
How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration
Julian Hattem’s Shelter from the Storm is an insightful, sobering overview of the past, present, and future of human movement in the age of climate change. The book’s thesis that “We Have Always Been Climate Migrants” frames migration as a fundamental part of the world’s present and of humanity’s future response to the stressors of climate change.
From the Little Ice Age to the Dust Bowl, the book covers the history, theory, and dynamics of climatological migration as a phenomenon. In doing so, it provides a distinct frame and context for the stories of human suffering, resilience, and hope within.
The text moves seamlessly from historical anecdotes to modern interviews and on-the-ground economic and scientific theory with competence and familiarity. The more narrative aspects of the text, which tell the stories of many people impacted by the changing climate, clash a bit with its more systems-oriented discussions of policy, history, and economics. However, the two support each other well thematically, and the examples of individuals affected by climate change are compelling, as are discussions of decision-making that illuminate the book’s more abstract theories.
It is remarkable how the text manages to discuss the hard realities of immigration, life as a refugee, oppression, genocide, and ecological collapse while still retaining sparks of human joy, collaboration, and ingenuity. As much time is spent discussing the advantages and drawbacks of potential solutions as is given to acknowledging the vastness of the problems themselves. The central topic is treated with nuance throughout, preventing excessive grimness and unrealistic faux-optimism from forming.
Shelter from the Storm is a thoughtful, in-depth study of the nature and consequences of climate change in an increasingly mobile world, and of how ecological shifts will continue to shape human movement in the years to come.
Reviewed by
Brendan McKelvy
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
