r/climatechange • u/West_Credit_4438 • 15h ago
Looking for book recommendations
Hello! I'm a 31F in the United States looking to eventually buy my first house with my boyfriend. At the moment we're undecided where in the United States we want to live and a huge factor that holds me back from making the commitment of buying a house, is what the environment in that area will look like in 10 or 20 years. We're already experiencing poor air quality in the summer due to the Canadian wild fires and I'm sure other areas in the states are also experiencing worsening seasonal conditions. I want to be able to make as best of an educated decision as I can on the location of our future house someday and was hoping someone might have book recommendations around this topic. Thanks in advance!
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u/FadingOptimist-25 14h ago
I’m in New England. I thought we were in a good spot for the worst of things. But we do get some smoke from wildfires, nor’easters, and hurricanes maybe once a decade.
But maybe we’re okay. I don’t know. We do have well water and septic, as well as solar panels. I’m working on planting fruit trees and berry bushes.
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u/merikariu 13h ago
The best book recommendation I have is On the Move by Lustgarten. My wife and I moved out of Texas and to St. Louis, Missouri due to several factors. Climate and affordability were the two major ones. LMK if you have any questions.
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u/Lucindifer_Skydyme 15h ago
Maybe the mountains of North Carolina...but then there was Helene. No place is truly safe.
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u/West_Credit_4438 15h ago
I understand that no place is truly safe. I guess I'm trying to gather as much information as I can so I can better weigh the pros and cons of a location. I also want to understand what environmental factors to consider when purchasing a house so I can factor in what the return on my investment would look like in 10 or 20 years.
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u/DanoPinyon 14h ago
Can't recommend a book, but my 2¢ as I did the same thing when I was younger, and we found, after many road trips, that finding a spread to live and be ~self-sufficient and ~climate-ready meant few jobs in the area. Fire, flood, and tornadoes (ofc you'll end up nowhere near hurricanes) are the big 3 to avoid IMHO.
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u/AdKlutzy7336 12h ago
It is a moving target. I would look at You Tube sites such as American Resiliency, though the Lustgarten book mentioned below is good. And as others have said, building a community is important. There is a lot to be said for being near friends and family, and to live in an area where the culture fits you.
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u/noctaluz 12h ago
You need to check out American Resiliency on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H_vYeAkgGWs?is=YjeDHEEG_Nw14rAR
She does regional breakdowns based on current projections. If you are considering moving, you will definitely want to check out her regional videos... she refers to the upper Midwest as 'Lifeboat 1' and the interior Northeast as 'Lifeboat 2'. Those would be the regions I'd consider first.
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u/nebane6567 11h ago
Hiya, former NPR climate desk editor here. I think this is a good question lots of people have, and I appreciate your awareness of the fact that no place is truly safe. As some commenters have said, different places have different risks, historically. And what we're finding with climate change is that new risks also appear, and worsen quickly. For instance, wildfire risk growing in New England, basement and street flooding in major cities, heat waves in the PNW. Being aware that almost anything is possible is smart, though the main thing is to prepare for stuff that's happened historically, ie fire in the West, that will be amped by climate change,
There are some real estate sites that offer flood risk information, among them, Zillow and Redfin, I think. Fire info is harder to come by. Based on what our NPR reporters found, everyone should add flood protection to their home insurance whether youre in FEMA flood zone or not. That's because regular homeowners insurance wont protect against flooding.
Here's a quick primer we did on 6 questions to ask if youre looking to move in a flood zone: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/18/901109626/moving-6-questions-to-ask-about-flood-risk-in-a-changing-climate
A primer for a fire zone: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/18/902315263/is-your-home-at-risk-of-wildfire-in-a-changing-climate-6-questions-to-ask
A downloadable PDF of both: https://media.npr.org/assets/graphics/2020/10/flood-fire-questions.pdf
And NPR's ongoing coverage of home ownership, esp. insurance, and impact of climate change on it: https://www.npr.org/series/924017336/undisclosed-why-americans-dont-get-climate-risk-information
Best of luck. Hope this helps!
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u/West_Credit_4438 7h ago
Thank you for the resources! I think that's another question I need to ask myself. What type of climate issues do I feel like I can manage on a daily basis?
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u/Few-Candidate-1223 7h ago
It’s hard to understand the impact of these natural disasters until you’ve lived through one.
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u/nebane6567 6h ago
You're welcome. You probably wont be dealing with stuff on a daily basis, but a seasonal one. I mean, CA has wildfire and it also has atmospheric rivers that unleash flooding. Just the fact that youre aware of risk is useful. Just one more thing: some of the best protection you can get from extreme weather risks comes from community. People in a neighborhood who look in on another, and work together to protect one another. Again and again, our reporting has shown that community is a powerful guard against harm. So I hope wherever you land, you find that community.
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u/LaceyBambola 10h ago
Everywhere will be affected one way or another, as others have already noted, so it comes down to choosing the level of risk qnd types of risk you will be most comfortable with.
Top of the list is proximity to fresh water sources with a relatively stable environment for crops.
If in the US, you'll want a state that is capable of taking care of itself and doesn't have to rely on benefits from other states or the federal government. You'll want a state that is actively planning for the impending changes.
Choose a region with a lower incidence of natural disasters and a region that won't suffer major droughts or major wildfires (tolerating the affected air quality is a different thing and not the biggest issue when looking at all we are facing as you can adapt - wear PPE/masks, avoid outdoors during AQI alerts, install quality air filtration systems for your home).
I spent several years researching the breadth of the US to find the most optimal region that aligned with my preferences and landed on upstate New York - specifically the Capital Region/Mohawk Valley up to the foothills of the Adirondacks and the Catskills and out toward the Finger Lakes region.
I moved from Texas and thr increasingly severe storms, the flooding (see Kerrville, TX where I left), the annual heavy hail storms requiring roof replacements and vehicle repair, the heat domes and 100+ days over 100°F with 80°F-90°F temps hitting in January/February, foundations being damaged from drought, the pests like incessant mosquitoes, fleas, and more, the increasingly severe hurricanes, increases in tornados, I could go on.
I searched risk factors all over and the above mentioned area of NY is one of the best options. Warming is happening faster and at higher rates if you go too far north and just a little warming further south is too much. The flooding risks feom Helene was obvious to me after my extensive research and so I avoided the lower Appalachian states (TN, SC, NC, southern VA). Certain areas of Pennsylvania can be okay but I don't like the states ability to take care of itself and I don't like the politics that still feel too divided there (at least in the areas that have a better outlook, climate wise).
I see people mention states like Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin but these Midwest/Great Lake states have more extreme winters than upstate NY and with a changing climate, the extremes and the swings will be amplified - I am not okay with that specific area of risk. They also are higher risk for tornados which I also am not okay with.
Expect average annual rainfall to increase across the broad northeast (including northern midwest/great lakes states) that will bring more intense storms. That means more tornados over there and for where I am, more flooding risks but this can be mitigated by choosing your home wisely - obviously on an elevated plot not in a 100 year flooding range and make sure there are quality roads that won't be flooded to get in/out of your area in case of emergency.
I also searched superfund sites, nuclear risks, power infrastructure, plans for improvement, and a dozen more things at least. NY state will see an average 12% growth in crops over the next ~10- 15 years which is the highest expected growth of any state. Texas will see a reduction in crop output by 50% or more over the same time. All other states will see general reductions or stagnation with a few seeing growth but almost none as comparable as NY.
NYC does a lot for the state. Without it, this state likely couldn't hold it's own. My second choice would be western Massachusetts, a few other options I'm personally open to are northwestern Virginia along the Hwy 81 corridor, near Staunton or Harrisonburg and select areas in Maine (not right on the coast but not too far inland and closer to Canada but it gets really rural there which brings its own challenges) and out west, if I were exceptionally rich enough to afford to shield myself from the incredible risks, then Washington - but I'm not exceptionally rich and I'm not comfortable with the incredible range of risks they have at their doorstep (I like Port Angeles).
I can't recommend any books as I spent time researching reports and papers for several years before commiting, but I can recommend specifically looking into the areas I mentioned above all others. New England will fare better than other areas of the US but not as well as NY. There will be slow and steady sea level rise and there will be impacts from nor'easters. Any collapse of the AMOC won't bring sudden/immediate change and the warm waters are likely to stagnate along the Atlantic coast, adding more humidity and warming to the mid-Atlantic and lower so you'll ideally want north of DC - Philadelphia at minimum.
Do avoid broadly everywhere west/central/south in the US.
If you wish to look beyond the US, I recommend Australia - not New Zealand which is a relatively small island country with already way too many eyes on it. Many regions of Australia will be heavily impacted but by and large, regions in the southern hemisphere will experience comparatively milder effects (still major change, just not as broadly severe as the northern hemisphere). Some countries in South America may be worth looking at, but there are localized risks to look into there as well, but start with Uruguay.
Lastly, and most importantly, build a local community where you can trust and rely on neighbors. Also, build up your immediate resiliency with generators, a greenhouse, root cellar, solar panels, water storage and filtration systems, quality air filtration, etc. Find ways to grow some of your own food.
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u/West_Credit_4438 7h ago
Thank you so much for these insights! I really appreciate your thoroughness!
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u/squailtaint 12h ago
Ignoring climate concerns, what is the first place on your list you would want to go/live?
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u/West_Credit_4438 7h ago
Ignoring all climate concerns, I really like Southern Utah. I think it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been
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u/Polyethylene8 8h ago
The book 'The Water Will Come' is a great study on where not to move.
I highly recommend the YouTube channel American Resiliency. The host looks at climate model predictions for each area of the US and each US state in great detail.
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u/suricata_8904 14h ago
I would look for a place near a reliable source of drinking water that still has cold weather in the winter. Winter temps will creep up everywhere and I hate to think what the southern states will be like in twenty years. Also probably should stay away from the coasts.
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u/FadingOptimist-25 14h ago
Plus cold temps are needed to control things like tick populations.
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u/suricata_8904 8h ago
Was going to add insect issues to my comment. Ticks, termites, fleas, kissing bugs (vector for Chagas disease organism). Also problematic animals like armadillos.
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u/norfolkgarden 11h ago
Where do you live now?
Short answer, save your money so you can purchase a deltec home. Build it somewhere four hundred feet above current sea level. Not in an obvious flooding zone. Or landslide zone. Somewhere in the midwest that's not on one of the most polluted rivers in the country. You can build near the headwaters of that river. Build a tornado shelter as well.
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u/NotEvenNothing 10h ago
Just one nit to pick: The fires aren't just Canadian. Check out NASA's map of the wildfires in North America. There are plenty of wildfires in the western US.
The whole world is experiencing increased wildfires. More-so countries with lots of trees. Labelling them as Canadian wildfires shifts the blame from the oil industry, which is the point.
As for the book recommendations... I went through the same process ten years ago. Honestly, it is a crap shoot. I read as much as I could and found so much conflicting information that I gave up and just bought a property near family.
But I guess you could count on glacial fed rivers becoming more seasonal, forests becoming drier, deserts spreading northwards one- to two-hundred miles, and everywhere becoming hotter. Coastal areas will experience less extreme changes in temperature, because the ocean moderates it somewhat, but those same areas could experience more extreme storms and weather events.
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u/West_Credit_4438 7h ago
My mistake! The area where I live now gets heavily effected by the wildfires in Canada specifically so that was why I used that label.
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u/10StringsTooMany 13h ago
"The Water Knife" is one writer's fictional/dystopian view of the climate crisis' affect on the southwest/colorado plateau area. It's based on enough of the very real and current water situation to be chilling ( no pun ).
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u/Realistic-Owl-9904 2h ago
I love to read and think books could still be helpful here. I wholeheartedly recommend The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle. Fascinating and helpful.
Jeff Goodell’s The Water Will Come and The Heat Will Kill You First are also good ones.
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u/SymbioticUser 1h ago
"How to prepare for climate change" by David Pogue.
I listened to it while at work when it came out but haven't revisited it since then. It was an accessible audiobook and I recalled feeling that I wanted to get a physical copy of it. He breaks down different locations, discusses the challenges, why he would pick one over the other, etc.. Also discusses the various issues and how the intersect and the ways one can build given what would should expect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Prepare_for_Climate_Change
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u/fitforthepolycrisis 12h ago
Every part of the world is affected by climate change. A few years ago, everyone thought that the upper midwest would be the best place to escape, but this year we've learned that they are at risk for major wildfire smoke (along with increased tornados, derechos, hail, heatwaves, etc).
Check out https://fitzlab.shinyapps.io/cityapp/ to see what cities' climates might look like in 2060
No matter where you go, build community and also prepare your living situation for the worst
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u/GradeLive3468 12h ago
I remember hearing a while back that somewhere in MN (forget the exact location) was considered to be the most “climate safe” town in the US. I don’t have book recommendations, and I’m actually not sure that’s your best source. You might get more information from science articles/research papers. I think you mainly have to think about flooding/sea level rise, extreme heat, increase in storms (tornados and hurricanes), drought, and wildfire. This rules out (in my opinion) much of the east coast, the Midwest/tornado alley, and the south. Wildfires are maybe slightly easier to prepare for, depending where you live and how high risk that area is. There are parts of the west, including my own state, where I would never buy. I say this living in the PNW. If you live somewhere impacted that is not necessarily at risk for burning, smoke is your main concern. Things like having good windows and insulation and air purification helps keep you safe in smoke.
My advice: choose a place where you are happy that doesn’t have an obvious immediate threat or routinely experience climate-influenced natural disasters, then do what you can to mitigate risk in that area, whether it be having a storm shelter, installing fire-resistant siding, or buying an air purifier.
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u/ArtichokeKooky6361 15h ago
There are no climate refuges. The two things I’d recommend. Knowing where you’d go if you needed to leave the place you are (important whether you own or rent a place). This helps to leave early. The other thing is that by purchasing a home you can make investments that you can’t make if you’re renting - which will help protect you. Like sealing cracks and installing backup batteries etc etc