Want to escape climate change? Move to Duluth.
No one is escaping climate change, but some people may have an easier time ignoring it.
As temperatures warm and sea levels rise, Harvard University lecturer Jesse Keenan, an expert on urban development and climate adaptation, has constantly been asked for advice on which cities will see the fewest climate change-related troubles. His top suggestion? Duluth, Minnesota — something he's spun into an entire marketing campaign and selling point for the city, The New York Times reports.
A few factors go into making Duluth the premier climate change destination, the Times notes. It's a cooler area, so even as temperatures increase by 2080, it'll only see summers as hot as Toledo, Ohio's. It's also inland, meaning sea level rise isn't a threat.
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If you want more options, Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Index has compiled 270 U.S. cities' risks and readiness when it comes to global warming. You could use it to dispute Buffalo, New York Mayor Byron Brown's claim that his city will be a "climate refuge," or scope out a permanent trip to the well-prepared cities of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Portland, Maine.
A previous study, made interactive by the Times, took the premise of climate change-proof cities global. It showed several cities that have hosted Winter Olympics in the past — most notably 2014's Sochi, Russia site — won't even be cold enough to sustain artificial snow by about 2050. Check out where you'll still be able to ski if no one takes action against catastrophic climate change here.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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