NYTimes | It’s hard to imagine that any city in North America will escape the effects of climate change within the next 25 years.
But
some will be better positioned than others to escape the brunt of
“drought, wildfire, extreme heat, extreme precipitation, extreme weather
and hurricanes.”
Those
were some of the climate change-related threats listed by Benjamin
Strauss, who focuses on climate impacts at Climate Central, an
independent nonprofit research collaboration of scientists and
journalists.
Dr. Strauss, 44, identified cities where people could settle in the next two decades if they are aiming to avoid those threats.
“Cities
are certainly all going to be livable over the next 25 years, but
they’ll be increasingly feeling the heat,” Dr. Strauss said, adding that
political action could help cities mitigate the effects of climate
change.
I also spoke with David W. Titley, 58, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, 44, a professor of political science at Texas Tech University who works with cities to build resilience to climate risks.
Just
because a city isn’t mentioned within this piece does not mean it is
not a good bet. My advice: If you’re looking for a place to live, pay
attention to the qualities of the cities more than the specific
locations.
All three emphasized that while certain cities were better bets, their safety was relative.
“I
don’t care if you found the safest place in the U.S.,” Dr. Titley said.
“We’re all going to pay, we’re all going to suffer that economic
disruption, we’re all going to pay for that relocation.”
