From earliest times man has had a tendency to wander. It seems that
migration is a normal form of human activity. The migrations of people
have changed world history. Man moves from one place to another for
various reasons. His motivation to migrate may stem from the over-
population of his homeland, an enemy invasion, food shortage, perse-
cution, tribal unrest, political suppression, the need to search for water
and grasslands or new hunting fields, or to satisfy a curious adventurous
nature. Perhaps survival was at stake. Then, of course, there was always
the quest to improve his living standard by seeking new opportunities
in a new land.

A direct and immediate reason for man to vacate an area was the
sudden advent of natural catastrophes, such as an earthquake, fire, flood,
drought, or volcanic eruption. When groundwater dried up, fields and
pastures turned into dust bowls and desert; man had no alternative but
to flee his native habitat. Often his life changed, sometimes radically, as
the climate of his region changed, bringing hardship and an unwilling-
ness to remain in such a trying environment.

In the United States people move to other regions for a variety of
reasons including health, cost of living, job opportunities, and a change
in lifestyles. But frequently older Americans seek to retire to states
having milder weather. There has been a long trend for "northerners,"
to give up living in the cold, snowy tier of states to migrate to the
warmer climes of Florida, Arizona, or California for a permanent resi-
dence. Victims of repeated river floods often relinquished their homes
and moved en masse to higher locations, sometimes to far away loca-
tions. Tens of thousands of Plains farmers fled their farms for "greener
pastures" in the western parts of America during the devastating Dust
Bowl of the 1930s.

There remains a constant exodus from farm regions the world over
due to crop failures brought on by the uncertainties of the weather,

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