In his upcoming book 'Shelter From the Storm,' journalist Julian Hattem contends that insufficient migration amid climate change traps vulnerable populations in peril. Drawing on stories from Guatemala's Dry Corridor, he illustrates how moving could provide economic relief and build resilience through remittances. Hattem suggests governments should encourage such moves to counter environmental threats.
Julian Hattem's 'Shelter From the Storm: How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration,' set for release on January 6, 2026, by The New Press, examines how climate impacts hinder mobility for the world's poorest. In Guatemala's Dry Corridor, near Jocotán, Hattem meets Elena, a 38-year-old mother of seven. Her family scrapes by on her husband's irregular farming income, but droughts reduce harvests, inflating costs. Elena's 5-year-old daughter needs untreated heart care, and her 19-year-old dropped school during COVID-19 over $40 monthly fees. Migration to the United States tempts them, but hiring a coyote costs thousands, risking their land as collateral. Deportation, injury, or death en route could worsen their plight.
Hattem describes such 'trapped populations' as climate change's gravest casualties. Vulnerable groups—the disabled, elderly, poor—face higher disaster risks; during Hurricane Katrina, half the fatalities were aged 75 or older. Legal barriers and distances exacerbate dangers: the UN tallies over 72,000 migrant deaths or disappearances from 2014 to 2025, likely underreported. Border crackdowns force riskier paths, like U.S.-Mexico deserts, where warming amplifies dehydration and heat stroke.
Yet migration yields gains. World Bank data shows wages triple to sextuple for those moving from low- to high-income countries. Remittances sustain origins: in Guatemala, 30% of northern households get about $350 monthly, exceeding export revenues. Hattem visits Consuela, 40, in Barbasco; her New York son's funds build a new home fleeing erosion from hurricanes and drought, which cracked her floor. Similar flows aid Ghana farmers with irrigation, Mexican coastal air conditioning, and Bangladesh families, where they form half incomes.
Hattem posits migration not just escape, but defense: funds fortify homes against disasters. Economists advocate subsidies for urban shifts to spur growth and rural adaptation. The core issue, he argues, is too little migration, not excess.
