<
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/4190038-cities-are-advertising-themselves-as-climate-havens-experts-say-theres-no-such-thing/>
"As the consequences of the planet warming grow ever more apparent, some cities
are marketing themselves as “climate havens,” or refuges from extreme climate
conditions.
But experts agree that no city, state or region of the country is truly immune
from the climate crisis.
“It’s an absurd concept with a grain of truth,” said Neil Donahue, a professor
at Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon College of Science.
Some places in the United States will be less harshly impacted than others by
many types of extreme weather events that are being made worse by climate
change, according to environmental experts.
More inland parts of the country, for instance, won’t be as intensely affected
by worsening hurricanes and sea level rise, experts said. And northern areas
with more moderate climates won’t be as susceptible to extreme heat and forest
fires.
Many of the cities that are labeling themselves — or being labeled — climate
havens are in those areas. Tulane University associate professor Jesse Keenan
told CNBC that Buffalo, N.Y.; Rochester, N.Y.; Duluth, Minn.; Minneapolis,
Minn.; Madison, Wis.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Detroit, Mich.; and Burlington, Vt.,
could provide such refuge in the future.
Some of those cities have also identified themselves as future climate havens.
In 2019, Buffalo, N.Y., Mayor Byron Brown called the city a “climate refuge”
during his State of the City address. Brown’s office said the city has an
opportunity to become such a refuge in a draft of his Four-Year Strategic Plan.
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, labeled itself as a future climate refuge in its
2023 Green Cincinnati Plan.
“Although Cincinnati has its own climate vulnerabilities, it will likely emerge
as a climate haven,” the plan reads.
While those cities are expected to be relatively secure from certain extreme
weather events, however, many of them are vulnerable to others. For example,
Buffalo, which has a reputation for being one of the snowiest cities in the
U.S., could experience more intense blizzards because of climate change.
Buffalo experienced one such extreme blizzard last December, when a
record-breaking storm with 70 mile-per-hour winds dropped more than four feet
of snow over the Western New York city over four days. The blizzard left
thousands without power amid frigid temperatures and killed at least 40 people.
Dr. Susan Clark, an assistant professor of environment and sustainability at
The State University of New York, Buffalo, said she doesn’t like the term
“climate haven” for this reason."
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
