Heterogeneity in Climate-Related Migration
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As the effects of climate change become more prominent, people look for ways to adapt in order to limit damages. It's likely that different people will vary in their capability to adapt to climate change. Focusing on one form of adaptation, migration, I look at differences in migration rates between income groups and race in the United States. Lower income households are more impacted by changing temperatures in the origin compared to wealthier households. Results are less clear with the race analysis, but there is still evidence that the migration rates differ among groups. It's also important to account for long-term variation in the climate and both origin and destination characteristics. Overall, the climate in the origin seems to have a stronger effect than the destination climate. I provide empirical evidence of differences in climate migration rates among demographic groups, but additional research can shed more light on why people choose to move, where they go, and how this impacts both the origin and destination locations.