TEMPERATURE INDUCED MIGRATION
Digital Art on Metal 40" W X 16.650" H
THE SCIENCE
WHAT'S ALARMING
For thousands of years, the vast majority of humans have resided in parts of the globe characterized by a mean average temperature (“MAT”) range of 55° to 59º Farenheit. (Agricultural and livestock production has been similarly limited.) Assuming populations continue to gravitate to these historical conditions, without significant mitigation of climate change, rising global temperatures will result in a mass human migration in the coming decades. Without such migration, “…one third of the global population is projected to experience a MAT >29 °C [52°F] currently found in only 0.8% of the Earth’s land surface, mostly concentrated in the Sahara.”
The above maps show current and projected temperature scenarios. The third map (the one on which the art is based) shows the areas that would no longer be desirable for human habitation based on the historical MAT suitability range.