I am a member of the ALA Carnegie Medal Committee. This title made the 2024 Shortlist <a href="https://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/carnegie-medals/2024-winners">. The two medal winners will be announced on January 20, 2024 at 9:45 a.m. EST, at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards livestream event premiering during the American Library Association’s LibLearnX conference in Baltimore <https://2024.alaliblearnx.org/>.

This was an entertaining and informative (if a bit worrying) read. I found myself sharing what I learned from this book with those around me. I recommend it to fans of good and highly readable non-fiction.

"Climate migration is often discussed as a phenomenon that is tangential to the climate crisis itself, a secondary impact that has future implications for issues like immigration and urban planning. Nothing could be further from the truth."

This book is a stellar example of environmental journalism. Author Jake Bittle blends interviews of communities impacted by climate change and disasters with facts about governmental policies, insurance company trends, and health and safety risks of living in the U.S. today. The chapters show the extent of the climate migration crisis in the U.S. already and paints a picture of what is to come in the next century. More than just infrastructure is being impacted, cultures and communities are being dissolved, forever changing the nation in near irreversible ways. I recommend this book to anyone interested in sustainable development, climate migration, and governmental policy surrounding these environmental disasters happening more and more frequently.

The Great Displacement is a very readable nonfiction that examines the coming wave of migration within the U.S. as various communities are forcibly relocated due to climate change. The introduction is very straightforward in discussing the book's chapter content and overall goals. This book is mostly driven by following personal anecdotes of various individuals and communities that have already dealt with how climate change is internally affecting our country. I think the personal stories help make this discussion feel grounded and relatable- we do get some inclusion of statistics and policies, but it doesn't feel overwhelming and helps keep this book very approachable for readers who may not read a lot of nonfiction, or who are not already well-versed in this issue.

Even though he is clear that this book is limited to happenings within the U.S., I appreciate that the author acknowledges the many displacement crises already happening in other parts of the world. I also appreciate that he explains that his title is a blatant homage to "The Great Migration"- which was the period of significant Black American migration between 1915- 1970.

I have a few critiques with some of the author's discussion of what is our government and social responsibility to the people who will be displaced by climate change. I mostly agree with his sentiments, but I often felt that his arguments were weak or glossed over, especially in moments where he acknowledges the various sides of a debate as to whether we should or should not help someone but neglects to pick apart which arguments actually have merit. I can accept that this may be a deliberate choice to prevent this book from getting too "political" and as a result potentially turn off the very audience that should be more engaged in this issue.

Overall, I liked the writing, I liked the project of the book, and I think it was successful in its goal. Its not the most in-depth look at this issue, but it definitely brings the issue close to home and gives the readers a lot to think about regarding what options we still have time to pursue.

Really important, timely book. The stories of the people who are currently dealing with climate change displacement are compelling and devastating. I will recommend this book absolutely, but one criticism is that the narrative arc gets a little lost in the extent of the stories. I absolutely believe in the need to know the people and the situations, but I think each individual story could have been edited down and placed into the greater narrative for better readability. But again, the information is critical and the importance of the material and the quality of the stories make this an absolute must read.

THE GREAT DISPLACEMENT by Jake Bittle joins a relatively small number of texts about climate migration, but journalist Bittle focuses on Climate Change and the Next **American** Migration, likely making his text more relatable for our national audience. That should be particularly true since he argues that "by the middle of the century, housing displacement will be the most visible and ubiquitous consequence of climate change" and estimates "in the United States alone, at least twenty million people may move as a result of climate change." His examples are covered in separate chapters which deal, for example, with flooding in Houston, wildfires near Santa Rosa, drought in Arizona or rising seas near Norfolk. He discusses the role of government and business (e.g., insurance and agriculture) as well as offering individual relocation stories. The facts are well-documented with notes (followed by a helpful index) comprising roughly twenty-five percent of the text. THE GREAT DISPLACEMENT received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly. It would be interesting to compare some of his observations with data used in The New York Times interactive pieces on "The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood, Mapped" or "Every Place Has Its Own Climate Risk. What Is It Where You Live?"

Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/13/climate/climate-footprint-map-neighborhood.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/18/opinion/wildfire-hurricane-climate.html

It is not your imagination that disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and floods are occurring much more frequently lately. The world is heating up resulting in not just more frequent but also more severe weather events. With insurance companies making historically high cumulative payouts, they are forced to raise rates. Higher rates mean homeowners are increasingly underinsuring their property so they cannot afford to rebuild when the next disaster strikes. Where does that leave all but the wealthiest residents? Embarking on The Great Displacement from coastal and Southern communities to middle and upper America where prices, and risks, are much lower.

The book contains true life personal stories about many recent disasters and their aftermath. However, its main point is that we built in the wrong areas to begin with. Farming a water hungry crop like cotton in arid Arizona or living permanently on a transient island like Big Pine Key just doesn’t seem like a good long term plan.

As someone who lives in the California high desert, I have thought of buying a house in the rust belt, to rent now and live in later in case the drought gets worse (or the promised Big One earthquake hits nearby). This book makes me want to follow up with my plan as sooner rather than later.

If you live in an area that is high risk, do yourself a favor and read The Great Displacement. It is an eye-opener that may prompt you to make better choices now and into the future. It is also very readable (as opposed to the textbook feeling of many other books about climate change). 4 stars!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Good information and stories about the great displacement. A good overview of the various types of climate-related issues that will lead to domestic migration in the US over the next several decades. Good history of things that have already happened and personal stories of how people have been affected.

A good overview of the various types of climate-related issues that will lead to domestic migration in the US over the next several decades. Lots of historical examples depicting how severe weather events driven by climate change affect populations of varying size in all regions of the US. Well-researched and written in a very accessible way. An excellent "starter book" if you're new to the topic of climate-driven migration.

In "The Great Displacement," Jake Bittle uses several case studies of people and communities who have had to move because of climate issues to show how climate migration is going to be a major part of American society in decades to come.

I had high hopes that this book would include some more analysis and hypothesizing about what these events would mean but much of the story focuses on the logistics and practicalities of the people who he met with. Some chapters seem repetitive as he continues to revisit buy-out programs and the problems with flood insurance. The buy-out programs were brand new to me but because they seemed to be a relatively common thing, I was bored with them. There was a brief analysis of the differences in these programs for different classes but I didn't find there to be enough emotion behind it.

It's also clear that Bittle's expertise and interest lie in water-based disasters and climate issues which are only a small part of what climate change in the US will mean. Balancing fires and heat-related disasters and what they mean may have helped keep my interest more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.