As Climate Fears Mount, Some Are Relocating Within the US

The Climate Desk collaboration has a story on Yale Environment 360.

The area of southern Oregon that Mich and Forest Brazil chose to raise their children in had a lot of open space and a family-friendly atmosphere.

When they moved there from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015, high summer temperatures, water shortages, and wildfire smoke became regular features of their lives, forcing them to wear face masks, and leading them to question whether the area was the right place for them.

On September 8, 2020, Forest Brazil had to cover his face because of smoke, dust, and debris from a fire that was being water-bombed by fire-fighting planes.

After five years of living with fire season, it was clear to him that this was no ordinary wildfire, so he grabbed his children, gathered a few important documents from the house, and called his wife to say they were getting out. Forest got a call from his landlord, who said that the house had burned to the ground.

They knew they couldn't stay in a dry state when they became climate migrants. What do we do now?

The Brazil family decided it was time to move to a less vulnerable part of the country because they realized they could no longer live in a place where they faced soaring temperatures and worsening wildfires caused by climate change. Mich got a transfer from her job at the US Veterans Administration to its office in White River Junction, Vermont. They moved to an apartment in New Hampshire close to the Vermont border last October after living in a series of temporary accommodations.

Forest said in the basement apartment that they looked at a map of the country and asked where they wanted to live. The Midwest did not appeal. We don't have to worry about fires or the weather. We don't have to worry about heat and smoke.

After being forced out of their home, the Brazil family joined other Americans escaping the worsening impacts of climate change. Houstonians who were driven out by flooding from Hurricane Harvey are among the migrants. Some communities have begun to disappear. Isle de Jean Charles, which sits just a foot or two above sea level, is being pushed out by rising seas. The inhabitants of coastal Native Alaskan villages such as Newtok are being relocated because of the more intense storm surge caused by declining sea ice.