Climate-induced redistribution of people is not inevitable

Published today in Environmental Research Letters Authored by Ingrid Boas, Harald Sterly, Carol Farbotko, Mike Hulme and 29 co-authors Abstract As climate change intensifies, scientific and policy discussions increasingly address questions of future habitability and potential population movements. In this perspective, we caution against premature or top-down characterizations of areas as uninhabitable, or portrayals of […]

My 2002 ‘Climate Book of the Year’

Book cover with the title "Heat" in large red letters and the subtitle "A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago" against a faded cityscape background—a gripping 2002 climate book and Book of the Year contender.

Klinenberg,E. (2002) Heatwave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 305pp.  This essay continues my series of monthly posts in which I select one ‘climate’ book to highlight and review from one of the 44 years of my professional career in climate research (starting with 1984, my first year of academic employment).  […]

The IPCC and Religious Knowledge

Illustration showing two hands pressed together in prayer on the left and a stylized globe on the right, with trees and animal silhouettes below—symbolizing the meeting of religious knowledge and IPCC-driven environmental awareness.

By Mike Hulme[1] and Arthur C Petersen[2] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is in the early stages of establishing its Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).  These preparations include holding a workshop early in 2026 on ‘engaging diverse knowledge systems’, with the intention “to consider what systems of knowledge — including scientific, Indigenous Knowledge systems, […]

‘The Unbearable Weight of Displaced Weather’

A train covered in snow moves along tracks at a station during heavy snowfall, with snow piling on the ground and overhead wires.

Read my new essay in The Rachel Carson Centre’s quarterly magazine, SPRINGS, Issue #7, May 27th 2025 Summary: Decades of scientific research have made clear that human presence on the planet is changing the world’s climates. Making them warmer on average, yes. But climate and weather are not the same thing, so as climates warm, […]