Nomad Century by Gaia Vince

4 out of 5 stars

The publisher provided a copy of this free of charge in return for an honest review.

The science is irrefutable now; we have looming the biggest catastrophe that mankind has faced. Though some still choose to deny it, clinging to the conspiracy theories that abound, that this is merely a blip in the climate of the planet. In the context of the Earth’s 4.5 billion year history, it is no time at all, but the effects will still affect us all.

Last year (2022) parts of the Indian sub-continent reached a shade under 50C and we even saw 47C in Europe. The heat cause wildfires, droughts and flash flooding in other parts of the world. Most importantly it showed us the places where people are not going to be able to live in the very near future.

But what is being done about it? Well sweet FA at the moment…

There is a lot of hot air, ironically, but very little concentrated and focused effort to curb our addiction to fossil fuels and keep that global temperature rise under that critical 1.5C. What is needed is a global effort to manage and mitigate the problems that will be coming our way. One of the biggest is going to be the migration of people fleeing from their homes and looking for somewhere to live.

In this equally fascinating and terrifying book, Vince writes about how human migration and our adaptability are what made us so dominant on this planet. She lays out the reasons why we should see migration as a positive and not a negative and how the influx of people will actually solve a lot more problems that it will cause. There are numerous examples of systems that countries have adopted that have worked and how we can apply those to other countries in the more temperate lands.

This book by Gaia Vince should be essential reading for most politicians. Sadly I can’t see them doing it though, as they are too compromised by the rich and powerful who have a vested interest in keeping the present system. I fear that it will lead to huge conflicts as people are left with no choice in what they had to do to survive.

Whilst I can’t say this was a book that I liked, who can find any cheer in the impending climate doom? It was a book that I thought was really well written and comprehensive in its outlook. The masses of people suffering because they cannot live in the place they were born and being forced to move to the parts of the planet that can support them is going to make for troubled times and we need to have proper plans in place to deal with it.