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 threadChristopher MimsSep 4, 2023

One thing I've discovered in my own reporting is how many incipient threats are just waiting in the wings, for a single bad season, a single black swan event to make entire towns uninhabitable.

People who don't live out west don't know this, but entire towns have burned to the ground, forcing everyone to leave.

A prime example: Grizzly Flats, California.

1,200 residents. Most of their homes burned to the ground in 2021

#climatechange #climatemigration

https://www.wsj.com/articles/they-moved-to-rural-california-for-affordable-homes-then-the-caldor-fire-destroyed-the-town-11636207202

They Moved to Rural California for Affordable Homes. Then the Caldor Fire Destroyed the Town.

Growing populations of towns in ‘wildland-urban interface’ is a key reason for rising wildfire threat in the West, researchers say

WSJ
Show threadBryan HanselSep 4, 2023

@mimsical people are migrating to Duluth, MN, a location called "Climate Proof Duluth."

#ClimateChange #ClimateMigration

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/10/04/climateproof-duluth-why-the-city-is-attracting-climate-migrants

Climate-proof Duluth? Why the city is attracting 'climate migrants'

Two years ago, a Harvard professor identified Duluth as a potential destination for future “climate migrants” — people who leave their homes due to rising sea levels or climate-related extreme weather. While initially met with some skepticism from locals, some people have already moved to Duluth because of climate change. And more are looking to come.

MPR News
Show threadChristopher Mims
@bryanhansel yes! great story, good addition to this thread
Sep 4, 2023 at 6:05pmWeb