Norman Myers

Norman Myers (born 24 August 1934) is a British environmentalist specialising in biodiversity. He is an influential figure among policy and institutional circles, although much of his more prominent work - such as on Environmental refugees' - is widely viewed as lacking academic credibility.^[1][2] He is the father of marathon runner Mara Yamauchi, and lives in Headington,^[3] UK.

Professional career

Myers has been an advisor to organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, scientific academies in several countries, and various government administrations worldwide. He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow^[4] at Green College, Oxford University, and an Adjunct Professor at Duke University.^[5]

Criticism

Myers' widely cited work on 'climate refugees' has been criticised by social scientists, and migration scholars in particular. Myers has himself described his conclusions regarding 'environmental refugees' as 'heroic extrapolation',^[6]

In April 2011, the UN was reported to have been 'embarrassed'^[7] by relying on Myers' prediction, in 2005, that there would be up to 50 million 'environmental refugees' by 2010. One academic has stated that "my understanding is that Norman Myers looked at a map of the world, and he said which are the hotspots that we think are going to be affected by climate change; then he looked up the projected populations for those areas in 2010 and 2050 and added them up....that's how he got to such a figure, because he didn't take into account that some people wouldn't move."^[8]

References

External links

• 2001 Blue Planet Prize recipient profile
• Conversation with Norman Myers at University of California Berkeley website
• Adjunct Professor Duke University