PART 2: Climate Risks
Before you can find your Climate Haven, it helps to know what you’re moving away from. Different places face different problems, and knowing the basics makes it easier to choose safer ground.
The Big 5
EXTREME HEAT
Heat waves are lasting longer and hitting harder, making it dangerous to be outside or live without air conditioning. Extreme heat also stresses power grids, leading to blackouts when people need cooling most. Scientists consider extreme heat the deadliest climate impact, causing more annual human deaths worldwide than floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes combined. Its effects are often silent but widespread, touching health, work, and daily life in ways that add up quickly.
WILDFIRES
Hotter, drier weather means bigger and faster-moving fires that can spread close to neighborhoods. Even if flames don’t reach your home, smoke can linger for weeks, making the air unhealthy to breathe. Wildfires are getting worse because rising temperatures dry out forests, while longer droughts leave vegetation ready to ignite. In many areas, decades of fire suppression have also built up excess fuel, creating the conditions for larger, more destructive blazes.
FLOODING
Heavier rains and stronger coastal storms are causing more frequent flooding in towns and cities. Floods can damage homes, block roads, and make insurance costly or even impossible to get. Climate change is making flooding worse because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, which fuels heavier downpours. Rising seas, stronger storm surges, and paved-over landscapes add to the problem, pushing water where it has nowhere to go.
WATER SHORTAGES
In many regions, droughts are lowering rivers, lakes, and groundwater supplies. This can lead to higher water bills, restrictions, and less water available for drinking, farming, or daily use. Climate change is making the problem worse by intensifying droughts and shifting rainfall patterns, while growing populations and poor water management put even more strain on supplies. Around the world, billions already live with water stress — threatening health, food security, and daily livelihoods.
HURRICANES & TORNADOS
Stronger storms now bring fierce winds that can rip apart homes and knock out power for weeks. Recovery is expensive and stressful, leaving families vulnerable to repeated damage. Climate change is fueling more intense hurricanes by warming ocean waters and raising sea levels, which leads to higher storm surges and heavier rainfall. Tornadoes are harder to predict, but shifting weather patterns may be changing where and when they form, surprising communities that never expected them. Together, these big storms highlight the need for safer building practices, stronger infrastructure, and communities ready to respond when nature turns violent.