Spatial perspective on environmental migration: Empirical insights from a spatiotemporal approach in the United States, 1970–2010

BACKGROUNDDespite the growth of environmental migration studies in recent decades, spatial analyses examining the impact of climate variability on migration within the United States at a finer geographical scale remain limited. OBJECTIVEThis study aims to investigate the environmental aspects of migration and explore the heterogeneous impacts of the environment on age-and place-specific migration patterns at the county level in the United States using spatial methods. METHODSWe employed spatial techniques to investigate the impacts of temperature and precipitation variability on county-level net migration rates (NMRs) across age groups and rural/urban counties in the United States. RESULTSAs temperature anomalies increase, nonmetropolitan counties experience a greater decline in NMRs compared to metropolitan counties, indicating that nonmetropolitan areas may be more sensitive to rising temperatures in terms of population change.The age-specific models revealed distinct migration patterns among working-age and older adults, with the NMRs of working-age adults showing a decreasing trend as temperature