Will Your Family Become Climate Refugees?

[Betty Baguette]

I'm in the Midwest, previously considered a U.S. "climate haven". But in the past few weeks we've been dealing with the smoke from the Canadian wildfires and some of our own wildfires/brushfires, as well as a lot more tornadoes than in the past. ("Tornado Alley" in the U.S. has been moving eastward due to climate change). I never thought we'd have these concerns, but they're still relatively mild compared to what's been happening in other parts of the world, and even in the U.S. (see the latest in @kenny's thread about Hawaii). So we're staying put. For now. Where else could we go? Even New Zealand, considered by some to be the ultimate climate change safe haven, was recently hit by a devastating cyclone:

New Zealand minister decries climate crisis ‘lost decades’ in wake of Cyclone Gabrielle

James Shaw says country is entering ‘period of consequences’ for inaction over climate change as extreme weather wreaks havoc across the North Island

www.theguardian.com

What changes have you been seeing in your area of the U.S. or in your country? Is your family planning to move due to climate change? Where from? Where to?

If you're in a relatively better area, are you concerned about the potentially billions of climate refugees coming in the next few decades?

This isn't meant to be a political discussion, just wondering what folks are seeing, thinking, and planning to do.

 

[hazeleyes29]

We're staying where we live. We're simply adapting our lives around climate change. As it is, I've been impacted by the wildfires this summer that we have decided to travel locally rather than taking a flight to Europe. Rather we should be having the discussion about it. Lots of people have many cars, whereas we opt for public transit and only have 1 car. Eventually people will need to realise that our consumption habits do have an impact on the environment. Such as those adapting fast fashion such as shein. The garment industry produces so much waste and pollution. The way we live is currently making our planet unlivable. We will no longer be able to push it under the rug.

 

[kenny]

I'm afraid, when it comes to all this, I'm mostly ...




The way things are going, I'm glad I'm not going to be around for decades.

I have no biological family to be concerned with.
But I am deeply concerned with the billions of fellow humans who are younger and/or less affluent as they'll have less option-purchasing power than I.
My DH is half my age, so I hope my estate will give him an edge.

Fortunately I've lived a relativly green life compared to most 1st-worlders in my tax bracket.
I'm thrilled that I have created no human carbon footprints that create more carbon footprints ad infinitum, aka kids.
That's something.

It's all so depressing.
But, all things considered, I'm well positioned for the few years I have left on this planet that we are killing!

 

[Betty Baguette]

We're staying where we live. We're simply adapting our lives around climate change. As it is, I've been impacted by the wildfires this summer that we have decided to travel locally rather than taking a flight to Europe. Rather we should be having the discussion about it. Lots of people have many cars, whereas we opt for public transit and only have 1 car. Eventually people will need to realise that our consumption habits do have an impact on the environment. Such as those adapting fast fashion such as shein. The garment industry produces so much waste and pollution. The way we live is currently making our planet unlivable. We will no longer be able to push it under the rug.

I hope you weren't impacted too severely by the wildfires, @hazeleyes29.

 

[missy]

Doubtful we’ll leave the northeast. It’s where our loved ones are and there is no perfect place anyway. We love our neighborhood and the people here are pretty nice. The beauty is all around us here and I feel the need to be by the ocean. I love the sea. We have lush green parks and wonderful woods and beautiful beaches. I love being here. It is amazing for cycling and hiking and being outdoors.

To reply to what has been posted already. We have one car. We cycle most places or walk. We don’t drive unless we have to. We have no children. We do what we can (while still enjoying our lives) because actions have consequences.

“ It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”


—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-196 8 ), Christmas Eve sermon, 1967

 

[Betty Baguette]

I'm afraid, when it comes to all this, I'm mostly ...




The way things are going, I'm glad I'm not going to be around for decades.

I have no biological family to be concerned with.
But I am deeply concerned with the billions of fellow humans who are younger and/or less affluent as they'll have less option-purchasing power than I.
My DH is half my age, so I hope my estate will give him an edge.

Fortunately I've lived a relativly green life compared to most 1st-worlders in my tax bracket.
I'm thrilled that I have created no human carbon footprints that create more carbon footprints ad infinitum, aka kids.
That's something.

It's all so depressing.
But, all things considered, I'm well positioned for the few years I have left on this planet that we are killing!

Yeah, I don't envy today's and tomorrow's young people @kenny:

Climate change puts children’s health at risk now and in the future

Heat waves, wildfires and other climate-related effects on the environment are particularly hard on children’s physical and mental health.

www.sciencenews.org

 

[monarch64]

I’m also in the Midwest and will be staying here for the next several years at least. I’m in a big university town but the family acreage is nearby and is rural with a spring fed water supply, a well, and plenty of woods. There are no industrial facilities close by, zero light pollution, and we keep it well-stocked for …whatever happens.

People make fun of “flyover country” and like to think that rural areas are full of dumb conservative red necks who are completely unsophisticated. That is true to some extent, as it is in most places. But there’s something to be said for managing to live responsibly in wide open spaces and making do with minimal resources so you can survive in times of crisis.

One my elective courses in college was a conservation class. I don’t think that class should be an elective anymore; in fact, I think it should be a requirement in grade school now, along with some kind of homestead management coursework.

 

[musicloveranthony]

I'm fortunate to live in Minneapolis metro USA - so nope!

 

[Betty Baguette]

Doubtful we’ll leave the northeast. It’s where our loved ones are and there is no perfect place anyway. We love our neighborhood and the people here are pretty nice. The beauty is all around us here and I feel the need to be by the ocean. I love the sea. We have lush green parks and wonderful woods and beautiful beaches. I love being here. It is amazing for cycling and hiking and being outdoors.

To reply to what has been posted already. We have one car. We cycle most places or walk. We don’t drive unless we have to. We have no children. We do what we can (while still enjoying our lives) because actions have consequences.

The place where you live looks beautiful, @missy. I don't think I'd leave either. Plus all those feral cats need you!

 

[Betty Baguette]

I’m also in the Midwest and will be staying here for the next several years at least. I’m in a big university town but the family acreage is nearby and is rural with a spring fed water supply, a well, and plenty of woods. There are no industrial facilities close by, zero light pollution, and we keep it well-stocked for …whatever happens.

People make fun of “flyover country” and like to think that rural areas are full of dumb conservative red necks who are completely unsophisticated. That is true to some extent, as it is in most places. But there’s something to be said for managing to live responsibly in wide open spaces and making do with minimal resources so you can survive in times of crisis.

One my elective courses in college was a conservation class. I don’t think that class should be an elective anymore; in fact, I think it should be a requirement in grade school now, along with some kind of homestead management coursework.

Soon no one will be joking about "flyover country" @monarch64!
Sounds like one of the best places to be going forward!

 

[Betty Baguette]

I'm fortunate to live in Minneapolis metro USA - so nope!

Yup, MN is near the top of the climate change havens according to many sources @musicloveranthony. As you might know, Duluth in particular is planning for a big influx of climate refugees.

 

[missy]

The place where you live looks beautiful, @missy. I don't think I'd leave either. Plus all those feral cats need you!

Thank you Betty. And you are so right. That’s actually another of the big reasons we can’t leave. The ferals. They’re part of our family now. I know some people think we’re crazy and maybe we are lol

Pepsi just the other day, in front of the bike shed, watching us as we were getting ready to go cycling



She’s so sweet. She’s not scared of us as long as we’re a distance away

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

The Canadian wildfires have made the whole summer seem overcast. We have family here so no plans on leaving.

 

[TooPatient]

Due to weather and the such? Nope. Pretty near perfect. We seldom have temperatures over 90 or under 20. Pretty mild winters and summers while still having all four seasons. The area has a reputation for being cloudy and rainy, but I grew up with this and don't find it excessively either. We have a mountain in the backyard (almost literally as our property ends at the department of natural resources land that covers the mountain) with just enough snow to enjoy without being too much.

Due to other reasons including additional people moving to the areas around us? Maybe.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

A few years ago i used to catch the bus with a lady who had had to move to NZ from Tokelau due to sea level rising -and her move wasn't all that recent
Talking to her really brought it home to me that its happening

Thankfully for Tokelau they are in the realm of NZ so they have options to relocate here, but they are a long way away, about halfway between here and Hawaii so they are very remote and vulnerable if a natural disaster hits them

 

[telephone89]

I want to leave, but not because of climate change (maybe just general climate, I'm from canada and want to retire elsewhere).

There isn't really any great place IMO. long long long term - near the ocean, you have rising waters and many places may be underwater. Flooding in other places, wildfires in others, tornados in others, earthquakes in others, hurricanes in others, blizzards in others, extreme heat in others. I honestly can't think of a "perfect" place if you're looking at the far future. Climate change will f-ck us all.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

a rather large part of my hometown is going to be effected by climate change as it was built on a swamp, including the house we grew up in
i think we all kind fo new this, it wasnt a secret or anything, it was just history

my first word was pump
because we had a pump under our house to pump water out when it rained heavy
Dad would often lift up the trap door in the hall to show us the pump working
it was right outside my bedroom door so i would hear it working

if you dug down in our garden you would hit the water table without effort
we lived in a slightly nicer part, Musselburgh, (The article reads like southern Dunedin is a slum and it is most definatly not) full of late Victorian villas and Californian bungalows, lots of sports facilities and the beach only a quick walk away

because it was flat lots of older people like my grandad would move from the hilly suburbs down onto the flat as they got older, so a lot of newer townhouses were built in my lifetime
also its sunny, no shade for half the day like living on the hills
the area is huge, my high school build in 1960 is right on the waterfront with just playing fields and an inlet between school and the harbour, the new factory Dad worked at back in the 90's is in the large industrial area we called the forshore that was developed/reclaimed in my lifetime

we used to get a tiny bit of surface flooding back in the day but nothing to worry about
but nowdays it rains it becomes head line national news as so much of south Dunedin floods with no where for the water to go


ok i dont live there now, but its my home town, its my neck of the woods, im very worried about what is going to happen there

Down Under: The community most-exposed to sea-level rise is also one of the poorest

Decades before we knew climate change was anything to worry about, a community was built over water in South Dunedin. Now, as it rises around them, ‘water’ is a fearful word for the people who live there.

interactives.stuff.co.nz

 

[Betty Baguette]

The Canadian wildfires have made the whole summer seem overcast. We have family here so no plans on leaving.

Yeah, it's tough to move when you'd have to leave family @Lisa Loves Shiny.

Our skies have been overcast from the fires too. I check our air quality index daily and run an air purifier more than I ever have.

 

[Betty Baguette]

Due to weather and the such? Nope. Pretty near perfect. We seldom have temperatures over 90 or under 20. Pretty mild winters and summers while still having all four seasons. The area has a reputation for being cloudy and rainy, but I grew up with this and don't find it excessively either. We have a mountain in the backyard (almost literally as our property ends at the department of natural resources land that covers the mountain) with just enough snow to enjoy without being too much.

Due to other reasons including additional people moving to the areas around us? Maybe.

Having a mountain in your backyard sounds awesome @TooPatient!

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if more people move to your area. There will be a great migration northward. It's already started.

 

[Betty Baguette]

A few years ago i used to catch the bus with a lady who had had to move to NZ from Tokelau due to sea level rising -and her move wasn't all that recent
Talking to her really brought it home to me that its happening

Thankfully for Tokelau they are in the realm of NZ so they have options to relocate here, but they are a long way away, about halfway between here and Hawaii so they are very remote and vulnerable if a natural disaster hits them

So many small islands are going to be under water soon.

a rather large part of my hometown is going to be effected by climate change as it was built on a swamp, including the house we grew up in
i think we all kind fo new this, it wasnt a secret or anything, it was just history

my first word was pump
because we had a pump under our house to pump water out when it rained heavy
Dad would often lift up the trap door in the hall to show us the pump working
it was right outside my bedroom door so i would hear it working

if you dug down in our garden you would hit the water table without effort
we lived in a slightly nicer part, Musselburgh, (The article reads like southern Dunedin is a slum and it is most definatly not) full of late Victorian villas and Californian bungalows, lots of sports facilities and the beach only a quick walk away

because it was flat lots of older people like my grandad would move from the hilly suburbs down onto the flat as they got older, so a lot of newer townhouses were built in my lifetime
also its sunny, no shade for half the day like living on the hills
the area is huge, my high school build in 1960 is right on the waterfront with just playing fields and an inlet between school and the harbour, the new factory Dad worked at back in the 90's is in the large industrial area we called the forshore that was developed/reclaimed in my lifetime

we used to get a tiny bit of surface flooding back in the day but nothing to worry about
but nowdays it rains it becomes head line national news as so much of south Dunedin floods with no where for the water to go


ok i dont live there now, but its my home town, its my neck of the woods, im very worried about what is going to happen there

Down Under: The community most-exposed to sea-level rise is also one of the poorest

Decades before we knew climate change was anything to worry about, a community was built over water in South Dunedin. Now, as it rises around them, ‘water’ is a fearful word for the people who live there.

interactives.stuff.co.nz

I hear you, @Daisys and Diamonds. One of the towns I used to live in is on the water. I just read that the town is suing some homeowners for putting up their own barriers to prevent water infiltration into their homes from the currently rising sea levels.
It's a beautiful town now but in a few years I'm not sure what it will look like.

 

[Betty Baguette]

I want to leave, but not because of climate change (maybe just general climate, I'm from canada and want to retire elsewhere).

There isn't really any great place IMO. long long long term - near the ocean, you have rising waters and many places may be underwater. Flooding in other places, wildfires in others, tornados in others, earthquakes in others, hurricanes in others, blizzards in others, extreme heat in others. I honestly can't think of a "perfect" place if you're looking at the far future. Climate change will f-ck us all.

True, there aren't any perfect places @telephone89. But some places might have a decade or two more habitability than others. A big determining factor besides the actual weather will be crop failure/food availability. Also the geopolitical climate of your country. Other factors too. But you're right, climate change will f-ck us all. And the experts are now saying it will happen much sooner than they previous thought.

 

[Betty Baguette]

Here's an interesting article about better places/worse places to live:

Where We'll End Up Living as the Planet Burns

Over the next fifty years, hotter temperatures combined with intense humidity are set to make large swathes of the globe lethal to live in.

time.com

 

[Slickk]

I also want to leave but not because of the climate, more because I’m in one of the worst states to retire in! And we’re close! But I can’t leave because my kiddos are here and I don’t want to leave them…

 

[telephone89]

Here's an interesting article about better places/worse places to live:

Where We'll End Up Living as the Planet Burns

Over the next fifty years, hotter temperatures combined with intense humidity are set to make large swathes of the globe lethal to live in.

time.com

Wow that is really interesting, especially the Canada piece! So you’re saying I need to wait out the polar vortexes eh…

 

[Betty Baguette]

Wow that is really interesting, especially the Canada piece! So you’re saying I need to wait out the polar vortexes eh…

Maybe. But I just noticed that this article was written almost a year ago, I think before the massive boreal wildfires in Canada.

 

[AprilBaby]

Chicago is choking here this summer from the Canadian smoke. I have had few good air quality days. My Covid induced asthma is getting tired of it. Also too much heat. I’m looking forward to winter!

 

[Betty Baguette]

Chicago is choking here this summer from the Canadian smoke. I have had few good air quality days. My Covid induced asthma is getting tired of it. Also too much heat. I’m looking forward to winter!

Sorry to hear about your asthma @AprilBaby.
I'm looking forward to winter too. Or at least a nice cool autumn.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Sorry to hear about your asthma @AprilBaby.
I'm looking forward to winter too. Or at least a nice cool autumn.

i love Autumn and Spring the most
i just found some little daffodils flowering in the wilderness that is the back garden so its on the way

summer is great when you're a kid because its the school holidays and we lived a stones throw from the beach,
even in the days before aircon was common here, summer was a pleasure (well not xmas shopping in our one week of humidity)
but once you have to go to work ......

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i wish we lived in a kinder more gentle were it was safe to use our real names

 

[Matata]

Here's an interesting article about better places/worse places to live:

Geez, that article is extremely naive. Build huge cities in northern latitudes to accommodate huge numbers of migrants from uninhabitable areas? Crowding billions of people in areas where natural resources are currently ok but are not capable of supporting so many people long term will deplete those resources. We have reached the point of non sustainability of our species. Mother earth is starting to shake us off like a dog getting rid of pesky fleas. Perhaps going underground will help for awhile. Like it or not, billions are going to die from lack of food, water, and disease and wars that will occur as people fight over dwindling resources. We've kicked the can down the road too long and now anything we do to fix one problem will create another problem.