'We're moving to higher ground': America's era of climate mass migration is here

It wont help that North Carolina Senate in 2012 voted to prohibit agencies and towns from using the latest scientific data on sea-level rise in coastal management decisions.

The IPCC high estimate of sea level rise by 2100 is about 0.6m over 80 years. It&#x27;s not good, but it&#x27;s hardly a catastrophe. I take predictions like this about as seriously as the narrative that global warming is a hoax.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ipcc.ch&#x2F;pdf&#x2F;unfccc&#x2F;cop19&#x2F;3_gregory13sbsta.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ipcc.ch&#x2F;pdf&#x2F;unfccc&#x2F;cop19&#x2F;3_gregory13sbsta.pdf</a>

&quot;the cost of doing this for all at-risk Americans would be eye-watering. Estimates range from $200,000 to $1m per person to undertake a relocation. If 13 million people do have to move, it seems fantastical to imagine $13tn, or even a significant fraction of this amount, being spent by governments to ease the way. “As a country we aren’t set up to deal with slow-moving disasters like this, so people around the country are on their own,” said Joel Clement, a former Department of the Interior official who worked on the relocation of Alaskan towns.&quot;

&gt; Estimates range from $200,000 to $1m per person to undertake a relocation<p>Meanwhile, Atlanta metro, predicted to take 320,000 people, has brand new townhomes 30 minutes from the airport for $100k (in Newnan).

&gt; Prodded to name refuges in the US, researchers will point to Washington and Oregon in the Pacific north-west, where temperatures will remain bearable and disasters unlikely to strike. Areas close to the Great Lakes and in New England are also expected to prove increasingly attractive to those looking to move.<p>The NorthEast could have earthquake issues in the next 50 years. Parts of New England are much better than other parts. Great Lakes area seems good as do areas like Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Chicago (technically Great Lake area), Denver, and Austin.

I feel bad for those who keep getting flooded. At the same time, we should be asking the question, should we as a society allow structures and private property so close to bodies of water. Flooding is one reason, but the 2nd more important reason, is people should have public access to our lakes, rivers, and oceans. There should be a public buffer of land between the water and private land. Private property should not be flush up against our water boundaries.

Someone I know recently bought a beautiful beach house in Florida near Cape Canaveral. I&#x27;m too anxious to ask if she is familiar with the climate change issues in the area since they are almost at sea level and even NASA is struggling with climate change there.<p>On the other hand, I hope that where ever these American climate refugees go, that the cities they go to will have enough infrastructure especially for water, and if they don&#x27;t, they can fix it.

When reading articles like these I have a rule:<p>Any article which has the word &quot;could&quot; in there gets put into the speculation not factual bin.<p>So when the article starts with:<p><i>&quot;By the end of this century, sea level rises alone could displace 13m people.&quot;</i><p>we are in the wild speculation category and I know it&#x27;s not really worth reading. It might be true but so might many other contradictory claims. Non the less, articles like these are not written for information but to cater to a market of people who believe the world is going under tomorrow and love to dwell in it.

Meanwhile Donald Trump builds his wall...<p>I don&#x27;t think the timescales here are realistic. The pace has picked up on global warming and the feedback loops are in place. Projections for &#x27;2065&#x27; are a bit silly. There is also this small problem in that the &#x27;American empire&#x27; is on the decline. Currently the US (and UK) live off the rest of the world via tax havens, the petro-dollar and militarism. These instruments are not going to last forever and it is not possible to plot a linear graph of &#x27;sea level rises&#x27; and &#x27;insurance prices&#x27;. Everyone in affected areas will be caught out by &#x27;negative equity&#x27; with nobody wanting to buy their property.