Climate Change Migration
“There may be other [climate] refuges to the east. Don’t count out the elevated inland cities in the country’s midsection, like Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee and Detroit. “I predict we’re going to have millions of people moving to those areas,” said Matthew E. Kahn, a professor of environmental economics at the University of California, Los Angeles.
–“Portland Will Still Be Cool, But Anchorage May Be the Place to Be“; The NYT (9/22/14).
It’s probably the first time I’ve heard anyone refer to the Twin Cities as “elevated.”
But, the gist of the NYT story is that, after the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, the Upper Midwest may very well be the best place to be “if you do not like it hot and do not want to be hit by a hurricane” — and want plentiful water (disqualifies most of the Southwest U.S.).
On the other hand:
“Summer in Minnesota is projected to be like the climate is in northern Oklahoma ” the trees and the forests there, the crops that farmers plant,” said Dr. Thomas Peterson of NOAA, citing the 2009 National Climate Assessment. “You build houses differently in Minnesota versus Oklahoma, you lay railroad tracks differently.”
There you have it: Minnesota, (net) climate change winner.
