As with all social processes, human migration is a dynamic process that requires regular theoretical reflection. This article offers such reflection as related to the role of the natural environment in contemporary migration research and theory. A growing body of evidence suggests that environmental contexts, as shifting social and ecological realities, are consequential to migration theory. In this article, we review some of this evidence, providing migration research examples that integrate environmental context and are applicable to core migration theories, including neoclassical economic and migration systems perspectives, the “push-pull” framework, and the new economics of labor migration. We suggest that neglecting consideration of the natural environment may yield misspecified migration models that attribute migration too heavily to social and economic factors, particularly in the context of contemporary climate change. On the other hand, we suggest, failure to consider migration theory in climate scenarios may lead to simplistic projections and understandings, as in the case of “climate refugees.” We conclude that migration researchers have an obligation to accurately reflect the complexity of migration's drivers, including the environment, within migration scholarship, especially in the context of global climate change.

与所有社会进程一样，人类迁徙是一个动态过程，需要定期进行理论反思。本文提供了与自然环境在当代移民研究和理论中的作用相关的反思。越来越多的证据表明，环境背景随着社会和生态现实的变化而对移民理论产生影响。在本文中，我们回顾了其中的一些证据，提供了整合环境背景并适用于核心移民理论的移民研究实例，包括新古典经济和移民系统视角、“推拉”框架以及劳动力移民的新经济学。我们认为，忽视对自然环境的考虑可能会产生错误的移民模型，将移民过分归因于社会和经济因素，特别是在当代气候变化的背景下。另一方面，我们认为，在气候情景中不考虑移民理论可能会导致简单化的预测和理解，就像“气候难民”的情况一样。我们的结论是，移民研究人员有义务在移民学术中准确反映移民驱动因素（包括环境）的复杂性，特别是在全球气候变化的背景下。