Last year, there were 18 extreme weather events that caused more than $1 billion in damage in the United States. According to the National Environmental Information Center. there was heat dome In September, more than 61 million people in the Southwest received heat advisories, breaking California’s heat record. Florida has hurricanes her Fiona and Ian, the latter of which brought the hurricane. ‘Unprecedented’ 12 to 18 feet Storm surges and record high winds of 150 mph eventually cut power to four million Floridians. Flash floods erupted in Kentucky and Missouri, forcing thousands to evacuate. Three tornadoes and a severe thunderstorm in the North Central United States in July, estimated $1.3 billion in damage.

Much of the debate about climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events is positive and hypothetical, but as Jake Bittle reveals in his excellent new book The Great Migration: Climate Change and the Next American Migrationits future is already here. Bittle graduated from the University of Chicago and was a former editor-in-chief. south side weeklyfocuses on seven regions of the United States whose landscapes are already being dramatically altered by a changing climate.

big move: Climate Change and the Next American Migration Jake Bittle
Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, 368 pages, $28.99, simonandschuster.com

Part of his approach is not only to recognize the reality that climate change is already troubling us, but also to build greater resilience in our communities and ensure everyone has access to safe housing. As he writes, “By the end of this century, climate change will have moved more than it did during the Great Migration.” It displaces many people in the United States, displaces millions of people in every part of the country.” Not to mention climate change migrants coming to the United States from other countries. Their homelands have been made uninhabitable by the abnormal amount of emissions in wealthier countries such as ours.

By focusing on the individual experiences of people living in places such as Santa Rosa, California, where the 2017 Tubbs wildfire destroyed more than 5,000 homes, and Norfolk, Virginia, where sea levels have risen further, Bittle explores that Helps reveal reality. Since 1950 he’s been taller than a foot and “will rise at least another foot in the next 20 years, which is faster than most other places in the country.” The picture is bleak. Thing. Not only because it is becoming clear that large areas of this country will soon become more or less uninhabitable due to climate change and increasing extreme weather events, but also because many of our current policies appear ineffective at best. is. At worst, it is positively harmful.

For example, much of the Florida Keys could be submerged by the end of the century, says Bittle. But residents can’t count on his help from FEMA because “federal law doesn’t recognize slow sea level rise as an emergency like a hurricane or wildfire.” He explains how in California, the private insurance market and state laws have worked together to exacerbate housing shortages, allowing people to rebuild their homes in unsafe locations without adhering to stricter building codes. doing. California bans insurers from “withdrawing customers in areas that have had wildfires in the past year,” instead arbitrarily withdrawing customers in states not affected by the fires. At the same time, it could cause insurance premiums for affected customers to skyrocket.

During the Houston oil boom of the 1970s, large-scale development was essentially unchecked. Unfortunately, the county never conducted a flood survey of the city’s bayous, so structures were often built downhill or in close proximity to rivers, bayous, or reservoirs. This, coupled with the literal development itself, especially the increase in paved surfaces, meant that when Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, there was more opportunity for flooding and less opportunity for natural drainage. .

And in Arizona, the government allowed counties to draw so much water over the years that it severely depleted the water table and cracked the earth. In the mid-90s, the state created a new water authority to appease developers. This effectively acted as a “huge loophole in the state’s groundwater restrictions,” shifting the cost of finding sustainable solutions onto future generations. Arizona, which has been in a state of drought since 1994, is now declining quotas from the Colorado River, making it nearly impossible to farm and raise cattle in Pinal County.

Bittle also looks to the fate of low-income communities of Indigenous peoples and people of color. They tend to be the most vulnerable to climate change and the least able to pack up and move to safety. He writes about the indigenous villages of Pointe aux Chien and Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana. residents. When the swamps disappeared, saltwater seeped into people’s lands and homes, making it impossible to grow subsistence vegetable gardens or raise animals. It ultimately destroyed communities and destroyed their way of life. The entire community of Isle de Jean Charles eventually moved inland. This is “the first community-wide climate change in U.S. history.” (For recent examples, I recommend reading of New Yorker‘s article It is estimated that the resettlement of the Inupiat village of Kivalina will cost about $1 million per inhabitant. )

If there are any disadvantages big move, it asks for more information and possibly more important lenses. For all of Bittle’s talk about FEMA, there is little mention of historical allegations of racism and other gross negligence of government agencies that Americans rely on for disaster relief. From FEMA Knowing Trailer Distribution Unsafe levels of formaldehyde for Hurricane Katrina survivors Data showing Readers should be provided with this information as a context for future deals with agencies, as agencies are more likely to help white and white communities than they are to people of color or communities of color.

Likewise, Bittle evokes much hope in the final chapter, speculating on what the future of migration due to climate change might look like and what changes need to be made to ease the pain of that migration. discussing whether there is He boldly states that pervasive mobility will require a change in the way Americans think about their homes, and consequently our stubborn cultural beliefs about the American dream and personal responsibility. He writes that in the next few years it will become more and more common to require government assistance for shelter or safety, and the onus is on us to accept that vulnerability.

It’s true that the climate will continue to warm and the oceans will continue to rise, but much else is not written. , have the power to learn more sustainable agriculture and transition to clean energy sources. And, as Bittle points out, the public has great support for such measures. It’s up to our government to make these investments and create such policies, but it’s up to everyone to make sure they do.