Christopher MimsSep 4, 2023

Evidence of America’s — and the world’s — climate migrations are mounting.

In this thread, I’ll collect all the papers, news items and anecdotes I find on the subject. Feel free to contribute by using this tag:

#climatemigration

It’s starting with insurers. When homes are destroyed and homeowners lose everything, with no recourse, market forces herd people away from the zones of greatest vulnerability:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/03/natural-disaster-climate-insurance/

#climate #climatechange #adaptation #climateimpacts

🧵

Home insurers cut natural disasters from policies as climate risks grow

Major insurers say they will cut out damage caused by hurricanes, wind and hail from policies underwriting property along coastlines and in wildfire country.

The Washington Post
Show threadChristopher MimsSep 4, 2023

Tech workers who fled to Austin during the pandemic are being repelled — Austin is #3 in the country for outmigration now — by a summer that has smashed all records for heat, with well over a month of days above 100 degrees.

This is a profoundly different weather than Austin had 20 or 30 years ago.

🧵 #climatemigration #climatechange

https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-workers-moved-to-austin-regrets-2023-8

Some tech workers who moved to Austin are having regrets

Drawn by the promise of an emerging tech hub, some tech workers who flocked to Austin found a middling tech scene, subpar culture, and scorching heat.

Insider
Show threadChristopher MimsSep 4, 2023

In areas most vulnerable to climate change-enhanced disasters, like Florida, the cost of home insurance has gone up so much that it’s now affecting how much lenders will give — potentially pushing many out of the home ownership market altogether.

Others are risking having no insurance at all, gambling on complete financial ruin should their home be damaged or destroyed.

🧵 #climatemigration #climateimpacts #climatechange

https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/americans-are-bailing-on-their-home-insurance-e3395515

Americans Are Bailing on Their Home Insurance 

Some homeowners who are skipping coverage say they can no longer afford rising premiums

WSJ
Show threadMarcel Salathé
@mimsical Thanks for reporting on this. I think that insurance is one of the most powerful, yet often overlooked, mechanisms for shaping societal behavior and choices in response to change. See self-driving cars
Sep 4, 2023 at 12:10pmIvory for Mac
Show threadNicole ParsonsSep 4, 2023

@marcelsalathe @mimsical

Insurance and risk management services only work as a corrective in a free market.

Instead, the oil industry has been buying up insurers and consolidating the property insurance industry for over a decade.

They plan on declaring bankruptcy in the event of disaster. Or getting a government bailout.

Reminder, the same overconsolidation is happening in the life insurance industry too. They plan on not paying settlements in mass death events too.

Show threadLazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈Sep 4, 2023
@Npars01 @marcelsalathe @mimsical homes and lives worthless in the eyes of Capitalism.....