MASON NorthLands Agent-Based Model of Climate Change and Human Migrations in the Boreal and Arctic Regions

Abstract:

Current climate change causes significant biophysical effects in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Boreal and Arctic regions. Rising and more variable temperatures, permafrost thawing, and snow loading are major hazards affecting human societies on multiple spatial, temporal, and risk-related scales. The MASON NorthLands computational simulation model is motivated by fundamental science and policy research questions. Results demonstrate causal processes relating ambient and soil temperature increases to measurable social impacts, especially log-range migration flows, mediated by biophysical effects of climate change on the built environment, as in a coupled human-artificial-natural system (CHANS).