In this paper the impacts of climate change on migration and climate refugees experiences are investigated, through the use of an agent-based model (ABM) of land use, social networks, and household dynamics to examine how extreme floods and droughts affect migration in Northeast Thailand.
The ABM models dynamic and interactive pathways, including both out-migration and return migration.
Study results indicate minimal effects on out-migration but strong negative effects on return migration, highlighting the central role of social networks in shaping these patterns.
They also suggest that climate change does not create entirely new migration processes, but instead operates through existing mobility patterns embedded in social networks and life-course trajectories, where out- and return migration are closely interconnected.
Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1086/709463
Reference
Entwisle, B., Verdery, A., & Williams, N. (2020). Climate Change and Migration: New Insights from a Dynamic Model of Out-Migration and Return Migration. AJS; American journal of sociology, 125(6), 1469–1512