If the United States can return to a leadership role in fighting climate change, perhaps a broader population will get the message: Climate impacts reach everyone’s doorstep. The headlines from the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference seem more relevant to my life than ever.
Sea level rise is one of the most urgent, with coastal waters off Massachusetts up to 8 inches higher than in 1950, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Level Rise Tides and Currents. Coastal regions like Cape Cod have specific challenges that are already affecting homes and businesses. A key focus is expanding Boston’s “capacity to build coastal resilience infrastructure,” he adds. “As a coastal city, rising sea levels have impacted planning in the city of Boston in a radical manner,” says Scott Slarsky, senior architect and planner at the Boston Planning & Development Agency. The 2019 Climate Ready Boston plan updated proposals set out in 2015 to prepare the city for myriad issues. Local and state governments are preparing for what seems inevitable, with increased funding and legislation aimed at mitigating or adapting to climate change. Winter coauthored a recent study that found between 19, there was a 48 percent increase in extreme precipitation in the Northeast. Jonathan Winter, associate professor of geography at Dartmouth College, points to three major risks for the region: sea level rise, heavy precipitation, and heat stress. New England is confronting its own set of climate-induced threats. This highlighted the need for increased coordination of housing, education, and other support services in response, in 2019 state Representative Liz Miranda drafted a bill (updated in 2021) “to better prepare the Commonwealth for climate change refugees.” “Things like commute times and housing costs all add up to challenge the affordability and accessibility of a region.” Even when it gets bad, many people simply can’t afford to leave, he emphasized.īoston was on the receiving end of a climate migration beginning in 2017 when evacuees from Hurricane Maria relocated to Massachusetts - among them, 2,500 displaced students who enrolled in public schools throughout the state. It’s a push and pull,” says Jesse Keenan, associate professor of real estate at the Tulane School of Architecture.
“I think it’s important to remember that no one wakes up in the morning and thinks, Climate change, I’m out. He pointed to the Dust Bowl as a “transformational” event that some communities are still recovering from a century later.įloods, fires, and storms have displaced people for centuries, but the decision to leave a community is based on more than a significant weather event. “Throughout human history, changes in climate have driven large migrations, so the idea that populations will move in the future shouldn’t be a surprise,” says Solomon Hsiang, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Global Policy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Family relocation is nothing new, experts remind us, and we can expect it to become more commonplace as the effects of rising temperatures accelerate.
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