International Handbook of Population and Environment is a thoughtfully constructed volume and an excellent introduction to a topic that demographers have been delinquent in addressing but which is now at the top of many research agendas. Following a helpful introduction by the editors, the volume begins with chapters on theoretical perspectives (both macro and micro), and data and methods. It then offers several examples of research demonstrating the impact of environmental factors on migration and on health and mortality, and of the impact of “demographic dynamics” on the environment. The final two chapters are reflections on the current state and future of the field, with broad areas of needed research outlined. This volume is No. 10 of the Springer International Handbooks of Population series and is edited by a prominent trio of population scientists: Lori M. Hunter, Clark Gray, and Jacques Véron.

Because some areas, such as the effects of climate on health and migration, have been given more attention by population scientists, there are whole sections devoted to these topics. Other topics, including the gendered impacts of the environment and the relationship of the environment to fertility behavior, are assigned only one chapter each. There is also a notable lack of attention to matters of environmental justice or the disproportionate effect of environmental exposure on socially vulnerable groups, especially the poor and communities of color. A sole chapter on “inequalities in environmental exposure,” which does take up these issues, is focused only on the United States. It would have been useful to see examples from other country contexts, especially from the Global South.

Each group of authors in this volume identifies unanswered research questions making it a treasure trove of ideas for future research. The questions posed are wide ranging and amenable to a variety of research methodologies. A few examples as follows: How can environmental factors be explicitly incorporated into theoretical and statistical models of migration and fertility? How do people perceive environmental risk, how does that perception influence their behavior, and how does perception vary by gender? What are the medium and long-term consequences of natural disasters for individuals and communities? These questions and many others make apparent the exceptional benefit for the study of population and the environment of collaboration between disciplines including demography, geography, epidemiology, and environmental science, a point reiterated by several of the authors.

In addition to the technical, definitional, and data challenges of conducting research on population and the environment (all of which population scientists have the tools to tackle), defining the environment more broadly to include not just climate but the social and economic context is likely the next big challenge for the field. This challenge is emphasized by Entwisle in her reflections chapter and by Curran in her chapter on micro perspectives and is also pointed out by McLeman in relation to environmental migration (“the degree or weight of the environmental influence relative to other, nonenvironmental drivers”; p. 516). The recruitment of population scientists who specialize in social demography to collaborate in this effort to place environmental influences within the context of social and economic influences could break new ground.

Readers can easily dip in and out of the 500-plus page text for selected topics that are of interest as each chapter (with an introductory abstract) stands on its own. Demographers should look to this new volume for both a good grounding in the current state of environmental demography and an inspiration for future research. —A.B.