Jake Bittle

Sea levels are rising while places like Arizona are using up water faster than it can be replenished. Tropical storms destroy coastal areas while wildfires leave entire towns in ashes. If you're still denying climate change, I'm sure there's some rightwing propaganda you can go read, but if you want to put a human face on climate refugees and get a general idea of the patterns of climate-caused migration in the United States, this is worth a read.

I read this to my husband over the course of show more several long drives. Although we have drought issues and second-hand effects of wildfires, we've remained fairly untouched thus far. The author introduced us to people from various parts of the country (Florida, North Carolina, California, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, and Virgina) who have been unhoused due to tropical storms, rising sea levels & coastal erosion, floods, wildfires, and drought, some of whom relocated and some of whom have chosen to stay and rebuild. Some of the stories are just heart-breaking. There was one man who suffered loss after loss, and I was waiting for the author to announce that he ended his own life. (He didn't, but there are secondary "characters" -- for lack of a better term -- that do. This is not a light-hearted read.) In addition to the humans dealing with loss of home, property, and even culture, Bittle examines the cost of rebuilding and restoring people's lives. Is that cost worth it? At what point does it become unsustainable for people to keep rebuilding or repairing in the Florida Keys, in fire-prone areas of the west coast, in flood-prone parts of Houston, in Norfolk? And if we declare parts of the country uninhabitable, where will people go?

Overall, I thought this was worth the hours spent reading. The scientist hubs and I both found it informative and thought-provoking. show less

Puts a human face to Americans who are already losing their homes due to wildfires, floods, drought, hurricanes and other natural forces associated with rapid climate change. The victims are both rich and poor, but while the rich can afford to rebuild elsewhere, the poor are stymied by outdated government disaster planning and a nationwide affordable housing crisis. Bittle skillfully humanizes the problem by focusing on individual people who have been forced to become "climate migrants." He show more pulls back to provide context, trends, and proposed (if likely futile) solutions.

Coastal areas bear the greatest risk, and more than half of Americans live within an hour's drive of the ocean. I've never felt better about my little house in the middle of the country (notwithstanding the political BS taking place there). show less

This is not a book about climate change. It’s a book about racial and class injustice with a little sprinkle of “storms are getting worse.” Actually, from what I’ve read (56%), the book is more about stupid/ignorant people making bad choices on top of racial and class injustice.

I can’t really feel bad about the people in the Keys getting flooded out of their homes when you start the story about how the Keys are barely 3 feet above sea level and no one should have built anything show more there. None of the houses are built to withstand storms or flooding and the majority of residents ignore weather warnings and evacuation notices. But tell me again how sorry we should feel for these folks who ignore all the warnings and don’t take precautions.

The story about the suburbs of Houston wasn’t about climate change at all. Construction companies filled bayous to build where they shouldn’t and then when any storm comes in the place gets flooded. We’re told repeatedly how there were no regulations about flood zones and construction nor were there any requirements to disclose flooding when selling a house. Plain old greed and lack of foresight. This would be happening whether or not there were stronger storms or drought, etc..

This is absolutely an important topic to discuss and learn more about. However, with a subtitle like “Climate Change and the Next American Migration” I expect the book to focus more on “climate change.” show less

An extremely well written book on many levels. The detailed chapters focusing on specific place and the cause and effect is very similar in approach to "How the Word is Passed," by Clint Smith. This is a book I would have to put down for a day or so because it was hard to handle some of the environmental impacts on people's lives Bittle told in the book. I recommend this book to anyone working Emergency Management just because it puts such a human face on real climate change disasters.