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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Climate disasters last year killed 688 people and cost the US more than $145 billion, a new government report found.</li><li>2021 was also the fourth-warmest year on record in the US, with December 2020 having been the warmest of all time.</li></ul>The <keyword id="11896310" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-crisis" source="Orion">climate crisis</keyword> ravaged the country last year, and it cost the US money and lives.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/">overview</a> of its annual report on Monday, and it found that fire, floods, <keyword id="12012432" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hurricanes" source="Orion">hurricanes</keyword> and other natural disasters cost the US $145 billion in losses while resulting in 688 deaths. According to the overview, there were 20 natural-disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each in 2021, with severe storm events having the most significant impact."Disaster costs over the last five years exceeded a record $742 billion, reflecting the increased exposure and vulnerability of the U.S. to extreme weather and climate events," the report said.The report also found 2021 was the fourth-warmest year on record in the US, with December 2021 being the warmest December ever recorded. Overall, it marked the third-costliest year on record for climate disasters.This is just the latest bit of bad climate news. Data continues to show the climate crisis is worsening. A Washington Post analysis last week found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-affect-americans-build-back-better-delayed-biden-2022-1">40% of Americans</a> were hit by climate disasters last year, with more than 80% of them experiencing heat waves, reflecting the warming climate. Even if the country acts on the crisis, the United Nations <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-impacts-to-last-millennia-ipcc-report-2021-8">said</a> in August some of <keyword id="6366055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="global-warming" source="Orion">global warming</keyword>'s effects would be "irreversible for centuries to millennia." Amid these worsening conditions, President Joe Biden has taken steps to combat the warming climate. In October, he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-climate-change-crisis-protect-savings-retirements-pensions-banks-economy-2021-10">unveiled</a> a report that focused on mitigating the risks the climate crisis has on Americans' savings and retirement funds, given the transition to clean energy could cause physical assets to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-climate-change-crisis-protect-retirement-savings-2-main-risks-2021-11">lose their value</a>.He also proposed a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-climate-plan-biggest-investment-reconciliation-glasgow-summit-2021-10">$555 billion investment</a> for the climate in his Build Back Better agenda. And although Senate Democrats tabled the agenda to focus on voting rights legislation, Sen. Joe Manchin — the centrist Democrat responsible for the delay — recently said climate "is one that we probably can come to an agreement much easier than anything else."

Climate disasters killed 688 people and cost the US more than $145 billion last year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA announced that 2020 was likely Earth's hottest year on record, just edging out 2016 (though the difference was small enough to consider it a tie).</li><li>Last year brought a record-breaking hurricane season, extreme <keyword id="394841" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="wildfires">wildfires</keyword>, heat waves, and flood-inducing storms to the US.</li><li>The intensity of these climate <keyword id="6471577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="disasters">disasters</keyword> is, in part, linked to rising temperatures.</li></ul>NASA announced Thursday that 2020 was likely the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2020-tied-for-warmest-year-on-record-nasa-analysis-shows">planet's hottest year on record</a>, edging out 2016 by one-tenth of a degree Celsius. The temperatures were close enough to fall within the scientists' margin of error, so they considered it "<a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hottest-year-record-temperature-2020-2016-nasa-noaa">a statistical tie</a>."Average global temperatures in 2020 were 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) warmer than in the 30-year average between 1951 and 1980, NASA scientists found.<a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/2020-was-earth-s-2nd-hottest-year-just-behind-2016">A second study</a> of <keyword id="6366055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="global-warming">global warming</keyword> conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that 2020 was actually the second-warmest year ever, behind 2016, perhaps due to the fact that NOAA researchers compared the annual temperature average to the 100-year average between 1901 and 2000.Still, the data may help explain why the climate crisis <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-2020-every-us-region-record-extreme-weather-2020-12">surged to new heights in 2020</a>, particularly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/08/us-2020-record-year-climate-disasters-wildfires-hurricanes">in the US</a>.Scientists can't say whether an individual storm or fire was directly caused by <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword>, since many factors contribute to each event. But experts agree that as the planet warms, weather becomes more extreme."The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend," Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2020-tied-for-warmest-year-on-record-nasa-analysis-shows">said in a press release</a>. <h2>Extreme weather is linked to rising temperatures</h2><div type="image" title="Nancy Allen and Brian Allen stand outside the house as high winds push smoke and ash from the Currowan Fire towards Nowra, New South Wales, Australia January 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy" height="2000" width="2666" msid="80295181" hostid="261"></div>It's probably no coincidence that Earth's hottest year (tied or not) was plagued by bizarre weather.Bushfires raged through eastern Australia in January. In South America, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/13/climate/pantanal-brazil-fires.html">largest tropical wetland</a> on Earth went up in flames. Typhoon Goni barreled into the Philippines with sustained winds of 195 mph, making it the strongest tropical cyclone landfall in history. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/42-square-miles-arctic-greenland-ice-shelf-breaks-off-sea-2020-9">huge glacier</a> broke off a Greenland ice shelf and drifted into the sea.Research has shown that the changing climate is contributing to <a href="https://www.insider.com/hurricane-laura-climate-change-warming-water-2020-8">stronger hurricanes</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/summer-heat-waves-wildfires-link-to-climate-change-2019-7">more severe heat waves</a>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/trump-denies-link-between-climate-change-and-fires-ignoring-science-2020-9">larger and more destructive wildfires</a>, and <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/precipitation-change">heavier rainfall</a> that can cause flooding."Global warming won't necessarily increase overall tropical storm formation, but when we do get a storm it's more likely to become stronger," Jim Kossin, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/14/2020-hottest-year-on-record-nasa#:~:text=Last%20year%20was%20by%20a,enormous%20hurricanes%20and%20unprecedented%20wildfires.">told The Guardian</a>. "And it's the strong ones that really matter."Some studies have linked the warming climate to the now-familiar <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/polar-vortex-hitting-us-might-be-connected-to-global-warming-2019-1">arrival of the polar vortex at temperate latitudes</a>. Rising temperatures could even be driving more severe thunderstorms and <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30052019/tornado-climate-change-connection-science-research-data/">tornado outbreaks</a>.<h2>The US saw $95 billion in climate disaster damages </h2>No part of the US was spared a disaster last year.Heat waves dried out the West and a polar vortex chilled the Northeast.Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and Rockies forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in late summer. Four million acres burned in California - more than double the previous state record. Fires killed at least 31 people in California, nine in Oregon, and one in Washington. Colorado, too, saw three of the four largest fires in state history. The region hadn't seen fires of that scale in 1,000 years, journalist Eric Holthaus <a href="https://thephoenix.substack.com/p/its-been-a-thousand-years-since-colorado">reported</a>.<div type="image" title="creek fire california shaver lake firefighter" height="1506" width="2008" msid="80295182" hostid="261"></div>At the same time, more <keyword id="551982" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="hurricanes">hurricanes</keyword> howled along the Gulf and Southeast coasts than in any other year in recorded history. Lake Charles, Louisiana didn't have time to recover from one cyclone before the next one hit. Hurricane Laura ripped up homes with 150 mph winds. Six weeks later, Hurricane Delta dumped more than 15 inches of rain.The center of the continental US, meanwhile, endured record storms, floods, and tornado swarms.<div type="image" title="hurricane laura damage photos louisiana texas 8" height="1872" width="2497" msid="80295183" hostid="261"></div>All told, the US had 22 weather and climate disasters in 2020 that cost the nation $1 billion in damages or more - blowing by the previous annual record of 16 disasters in 2017.The 22 billion-dollar disasters - seven linked to tropical cyclones, 13 to severe storms, one to drought, and one to wildfires - totaled $95 billion in damages, <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2020-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters-historical">according to NOAA</a>.<h2>No place to hide</h2><div type="image" title="greenland ice sheet" height="1000" width="1333" msid="80295184" hostid="261"></div>Earth's warming over time makes one thing increasingly clear: Soon, if not already, there will be no place to hide from the destructive consequences of humans' climate-altering behavior.Extreme heat could make some regions across the central US, Middle East, and Australia almost unlivable in the summers. Scientists expect extreme storms and fires <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-in-the-next-decade-2019-11">to get worse</a>, too. All that could deal a <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-and-agriculture">severe blow</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-lowers-nutritional-value-of-food-staples-2019-8">food production</a>.Some cities are also expected to run out of water. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-3/">projects</a> severe reductions in water resources for 8% of the global population from 2021 to 2040.The Amazon rainforest, the world's coral reefs, and the Greenland ice sheet are all at risk of collapse. The Arctic is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-reveal-extent-of-arctic-ice-loss-2020-9">on track</a> to lose more ice this century than at any point since the last Ice Age. By 2100, rising sea levels could swallow cities like New Orleans, Boston, Venice, Lagos, and Jakarta, driving waves of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/problem-with-predicting-mass-migration-climate-change-2020-9">refugees inland</a>."Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important - the important things are long-term trends," Schmidt said. "With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken."

Climate disasters in the US broke records in 2020. Scientists may now know why: Earth was the hottest it has ever been.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Peter Parks/AFP/Getty ImagesApple customers queue up in the rain outside a flagship store in Beijing.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Major brands are finding ways to make money on the fears surrounding and consequences of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ipcc-climate-change-report-why-2-degree-warming-is-dangerous-2018-10">climate change</a>.</li><li>In disclosures to <a href="https://www.cdp.net/en">CDP</a> - a nonprofit that asks companies about their environmental impact - companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-report-identifies-risks-business-opportunities-climate-change-2019-1">Apple</a>, Disney, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/philip-morris-thinks-climate-change-is-good-for-tobacco-2019-1">Philip Morris</a> identified ways that they could profit from natural disasters, extreme weather, and the need to reduce carbon emissions associated with climate change.</li><li>In many cases, brands saw addressing climate change as a way to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-some-of-americas-biggest-companies-using-it-to-profit-2019-1">improve their public image</a>.</li></ul>In 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ipcc-climate-change-report-why-2-degree-warming-is-dangerous-2018-10">a devastating report</a> released by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted a future of extreme heatwaves, severe droughts, mass extinctions, and sea-level rise. Under these conditions, the report said, the world could experience $54 trillion worth of environmental damage. While that scenario might be decades away, companies are already finding ways to profit from humanity's collective fears about climate-related disasters. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/big-oil-claims-its-doing-its-part-on-climate-change-its-not-even-close-2018-11">Big Oil claims it's doing its part to combat climate change. A new study finds it's not even close.</a>In January, a London-based nonprofit called CDP, which collects information from companies about their environmental impact, released <a href="https://www.cdp.net/en/saml/new">thousands of company disclosures</a> explaining how natural disasters, extreme weather, and the need to reduce carbon emissions could translate into serious money-making opportunities. In one of the most striking disclosures, Apple noted that iPhones could help people survive in a disaster by offering flashlights and other emergency services. The company estimated that its brand value <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-report-identifies-risks-business-opportunities-climate-change-2019-1">would increase by $920 million</a> as customers began to rely on iPhones for personal safety.Other companies saw an upside to warmer temperatures. Molson Coors predicted that the desire for beer would increase as the world experienced more frequent and extreme periods of heat. Here are some of the ways that major brands think they can make money from climate change.

Brands like Apple and Molson Coors think a future of extreme weather and climate disasters will be profitable

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Owning a home in high-climate risk states like Florida is becoming tougher amid rising costs.</li><li>Still, owning may be preferable as renters have significantly less policy support than homeowners.</li></ul>In states at high risk of climate-related events, both homeowners and renters face difficulties in the wake of natural disasters, but there are important things to consider in each case.On the one hand, buyers are facing rising costs as insurance premiums skyrocket. Renters could bear some of that burden, too, as rental properties face rising property insurance costs that could drive up rents in the future.But when a natural disaster hits, like this week's Hurricane Milton, the stakes are different.Both renters and homebuyers face an immense loss of stability if their homes are damaged or destroyed, but homebuyers lose a huge investment.Here are key factors at play when deciding to rent or to own a home in a state where climate risks are rising and natural disasters are becoming more frequent and destructive.<h3 id="fb983509-a634-4c57-8ea5-a41d41e6da00">Both renters and buyers face rising costs</h3>The costs associated with owning a home are becoming more volatile as insurance costs rise due to climate risks."Those dynamics really play more of a role in why you're seeing weaker markets right now in places like Texas and Florida, which see more severe storms and generally different forms of climate risk, and where homeowners are seeing greater increases in insurance premiums, which doesn't affect renters as much," Redfin's head economist, Chen Zhao, told Business Insider.Average insurance premiums have increased sharply in the last few years, up 33% from 2020 to 2023, but that trend is uneven depending on a state's natural disaster risk, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32579/w32579.pdf">June study</a> found.Even in regions in different states with similar climate risks, those in states with overall higher risks often bear a higher cost burden as insurers pay to transfer more risk to reinsurance companies.Florida, which has a reinsurance exposure of almost 40% due to high hurricane risk across the state, saw annual insurance premiums increase by about $1,000 in zip codes close to its border with Georgia, even though areas on both sides of the border are similarly at risk.Georgia, on the other hand, has less than 10% exposure to reinsurers, and its zip codes close to the border saw increases of less than $500 in the last few years.Overall, rising disaster risk will raise annual premiums for climate-exposed households in the US by $700 by 2053, the study says."The cost of owning a home also has been more volatile over time because of the rising insurance costs and the climate change impact, and also because home prices are going up so fast," Jung Hyun Choi, a researcher at the Urban Institute's Housing Finance Policy Center, told Business Insider.Still, a big advantage to owning a home is the ability to lock in housing costs."Home ownership is still one of the most important ways of building wealth in this country," Choi said, adding that not only do homeowners build equity over time, but their costs are often fixed via the 30-year mortgage, which is the most popular home loan in the US.Renters, on the other hand, are subject to unpredictable price increases year-to-year. That's especially true after climate disasters, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/risa.14224">one study</a> that looked at rent prices following hurricanes in US coastal states.In extreme disasters, median rents rise due to reduced housing supply. In less severe scenarios, rents may rise because building owners are trying to offset losses from property damage, or possibly take advantage of higher demand from displaced homeowners.<h3 id="ccd2411a-bab0-4107-bf3e-4c9ccc85ffbc">Policy favors homeowners</h3>While it may be tough to know whether costs for renters or buyers are more directly impacted after climate disasters, public policy is clearly skewed in favor of buyers, Choi says. She pointed to forbearance and loss mitigation policies that are meant to help buyers keep their homes.After Hurricane Katrina, 29% of homes in Louisiana were damaged, compared with 35% of rental housing units — but 62% of damaged homes and only 18% of damaged rental units received disaster recovery assistance, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-10-17">federal study</a>.In places where federal funding was implemented for renters after Hurricane Katrina, though, rents appreciated at a much slower rate, one <a target="_blank" href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Disasters-and-the-Rental-Housing_final.pdf">study</a> found, pointing to the potential for future policy to address renters' vulnerability to climate events.Zhao points out, though, that renters generally have more flexibility to move and are less tied down when disasters strike."For renters, it's a different story. You don't own the financial risk of living in Florida if a hurricane comes through," Zhao said, adding, "I think that's the other thing that kind of drives a wedge between these regions and other places in the country, and also drives a wedge between homeowners and renters."Zhao acknowledges that renters still "certainly own the personal risk" of a hurricane. Renters lose their housing stability personal property the same as homeowners.Whether renting or buying is more advantageous amid climate change will be determined by policy solutions implemented in the next few years. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of clarity yet, Choi says.She adds there's a chance that renting has the upper hand in high climate-risk areas."If we kind of leave it like this, it could be actually better to just rent because you don't really have to worry about your properties being severely damaged and you're not getting any insurance coverage," Choi said.

Here's how natural disasters are shaping the buy-versus-rent decision in vulnerable states like Florida

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump-Country-Considering-Climate/48a530fb4615492da01bdff8a1b81a02/30/0">David Goldman/AP</a>A man walks past debris from homes on his street damaged in flooding from Hurricane Harvey as an oil refinery stands in the background in Port Arthur, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Natural disasters and their associated costs are at an all-time high and are expected to escalate. </li><li>Though federal programs are in place to help individuals and communities rebuild from disasters like extreme flooding or fires, analysis by NPR found funding has disproportionately benefited wealthier communities with higher rates of white, non-Hispanic residents.</li><li>The report comes amid record-breaking years of damage from natural disasters, which are expected to grow more extreme as climate change worsens. </li></ul>As natural disasters become increasingly common, federally funded recovery programs are in high demand to help those affected by issues like flooding. However, FEMA aid programs have not only been found to disproportionately benefit wealthier communities but also exaggerate disparities across racial divides, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/688786177/how-federal-disaster-money-favors-the-rich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to NPR</a>. One major program by the agency that falls into this trap is that which offers lumps of federal and local money to purchase damaged homes, like those ruined in Texas' Hurricane Harvey, to convert the lots into green space, so they won't be involved in a natural disaster, such as flooding, again.Though aid is available to all affected in a disaster, the report found flooding sparks the sharpest imbalance among those who benefit from aid, as the majority of such buyouts went to communities that were more than 85 percent white and non-Hispanic, according to NPR analysis of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/696995788/search-the-thousands-of-disaster-buyouts-fema-didnt-want-you-to-see" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly 40,000 acquisitions</a>.The report notes that this is in part because of the system's cost-benefit methodology, which favors more valuable properties and those who own them, but the distribution of money ultimately occurs at the state level, limiting the agency's ability to control demographic effects. The money from the voluntary acquisition can offer beneficiaries funds that allow for relocation, but can be out of reach for low-income applicants who face a number of logistical problems in applying for any aid, including long waiting periods, obtaining paperwork, accessing online resources, or taking time off work to coordinate with the agency. An agency official told NPR that they expect aid programs like the buyouts to grow as climate change brings more extreme disasters and widespread damage. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadly-us-tornadoes-storms-southeast-getting-worse-2019-3">A tornado outbreak that killed 23 people confirms scientists' fears: Tornadoes in the Southeastern US are getting worse</a>In 2018, there were 14 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each across the United States, <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to data</a> from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The previous year was estimated to be the most expensive on record for those affected by disasters, with <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2017-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters-historic-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$306.2 billion in damage</a> after more than five major hurricanes across the country. Climate change has already been projected to be capable of major damage to specific demographics by studies like the <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent National Climate Assessment</a>, which forecasts that already vulnerable populations will suffer the most as access to basic resources including water, food, and medical care come under threat. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-el-chapo-joaquin-guzman-really-like-cartel-wives-2017-10">What El Chapo is really like, according to the wife of one his closest henchman</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

federal emergency funds benefit richer, whiter communities, studies show

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Americans are still moving into areas with high risk of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-crisis-could-turn-around-this-decade-ipcc-report-2022-4">climate</a>-driven <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-tornadoes-highlight-rising-risk-climate-change-supply-chains-2021-12">extreme weather</a>.</li><li>Experts expect floods, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wildfires-smoke-pacific-northwest-bring-new-peak-to-air-pollution-2022-4">fires</a>, storms, and heat waves to fuel increasing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-international-migration-us-counties-people-moving-pandemic-2022-4">migration</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-2020-every-us-region-record-extreme-weather-2020-12">across the US</a>.</li></ul>In late December, amid the depths of Colorado winter, the Marshall Fire roared through the suburbs east of Boulder, fueled by powerful winds. Destroying more than 1,000 homes, it became the most destructive blaze in history.That's why Jeni Arndt, the mayor of nearby Fort Collins, says it's a relief to see population growth finally slowing down in her city. The fires and droughts are just getting worse."We're still seeing robust growth in Colorado, but none of my kids want to really live here because of the smoke," Arndt said during a Thursday press briefing hosted by the National League of <keyword id="11922548" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cities" source="Orion">Cities</keyword>, a nonprofit advocacy organization that represents more than 2,400 cities across the US.Overall, though, Americans haven't stopped moving into areas at high risk of climate-related <keyword id="13681071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="disasters" source="Orion">disasters</keyword>, according to a new <a href="https://www.nlc.org/resource/the-next-american-migration-what-cities-should-know-about-climate-change-and-populations-on-the-move">report</a> from the NLC, released Thursday.Sometimes people move into risky areas because they've been priced out of their home cities, according to the report, but sometimes they're looking for more space, solitude, or warmer weather. Either way, the trend means more Americans will face <keyword id="12019615" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="extreme-weather" source="Orion">extreme weather</keyword> disasters, along with the pressure to evacuate or move, as the planet warms.<div type="image" title="california wildfire house in flames burning down" height="1666" width="2222" msid="91010769" hostid="261"></div>In the 50 counties with the largest share of homes exposed to high risk of flood, drought, storms, and fires, new people moving in increased populations by up to 3.5% on average from 2016 to 2020, according to an <a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/climate-migration-real-estate-2021/">analysis</a> last year by the real-estate company Redfin. For the 50 counties with the largest extreme-heat risk, the average increase was 4.7%.On the East Coast, developers are building new <keyword id="11916125" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="housing" source="Orion">housing</keyword> two to three times faster in areas that surveys deemed vulnerable to flooding than they are in safer regions, according to the NLC report.<div type="image" title="workers pave driveway and build new townhomes in a row" height="1600" width="2133" msid="91010773" hostid="261"></div>In the West, a primary concern is the wildland-urban interface, where residential developments sit in forested areas that are highly vulnerable to wildfires. From 1990 to 2010, there was a 41% increase in the number of new homes in these areas, one <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1718850115">study</a> calculated. Every year now, homes in those areas are burning down."We haven't seen much out-migration yet," Arndt said of Fort Collins. But, she added, "I think that's not unrealistic. I hear people just anecdotally say 'I'm going to Montana' or 'I'm going to Canada, it's cooler there, or North Dakota,' and these sorts of things. That might really come to pass."<h2>The US is headed for a climate-driven <keyword id="11920873" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="migration" source="Orion">migration</keyword> boom</h2><div type="image" title="two people walk through floodwaters in residential neighborhood" height="1584" width="2113" msid="91010778" hostid="261"></div>Disasters displaced 1.7 million Americans in 2020, according to the <a href="https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/united-states">Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre</a>. While it's unclear how many of those disasters were related to <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword>, years of research show that rising global temperatures are increasing the severity and frequency of floods, fires, and heat waves, as well as making hurricanes more dangerous.In the summer of 2021, nearly one in three Americans lived in a county that suffered an extreme weather disaster, according to the new NLC report.That exposure is already influencing some people's decision to relocate. In a different 2021 Redfin <a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/climate-change-migration-survey/">survey</a>, 49% of respondents who planned to move in the next year said increasing intensity or frequency of natural disasters was a factor in their decision.The climate crisis is likely to displace more and more people as it ramps up. The most recent assessment of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that, under 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, some low-lying coastal cities and mountain areas could become <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-alter-human-life-un-ipcc-report-2022-2">inhospitable to human life</a>. It predicts that hundreds of millions of people worldwide will be at risk of climate-related <keyword id="12697938" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="displacement" source="Orion">displacement</keyword> by the second half of the century.Cities across the US must prepare to both protect their residents from climate disasters and accommodate new migrants, the new NLC report asserts. That looks different from city to city, but the report makes dozens of recommendations, including encouraging municipalities to collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions, prioritize affordable housing, and offer funding to help low-income residents prepare their homes for extreme weather.

Despite mounting danger, Americans keep moving to the counties at highest risk for wildfires, floods, and droughts

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet"></a><div type="image" title="Aliana Alexis of Haiti stands on the concrete slab of what is left of her home after destruction from Hurricane Dorian in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas on Sept. 5, 2019." height="2000" width="2666" msid="103642328" hostid="261" sizebytes="461098"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>By 2050, the World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/09/13/climate-change-could-force-216-million-people-to-migrate-within-their-own-countries-by-2050">estimates</a> there could be 216 million internal climate refugees worldwide.</li><li>People living in the Caribbean and Pacific Islands are at a greater risk of climate displacement.</li><li>While Caribbean islands have some of the lowest greenhouse-gas emissions, they're most vulnerable.</li></ul>As temperatures reach a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hothouse-earth-climate-change-tipping-point-2018-8">breaking point</a> worldwide, so does the global migration crisis.Last year, over 32 million people around the world were forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters, the <a href="https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre</a> found. That's the highest figure in a decade.By 2050, the World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/09/13/climate-change-could-force-216-million-people-to-migrate-within-their-own-countries-by-2050" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimates</a> that climate change could force 216 million people to be displaced from their homes within their own countries. A report by the Institute for Economics and Peace suggested that over <a href="https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Ecological-Threat-Register-Press-Release-27.08-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 billion people</a> could face displacement because of natural disasters within the next 30 years.For those living in the Caribbean and Pacific islands, who largely live in coastal areas and rely on natural resources for their livelihood, that risk is imminent."We need to recognize that climate displacement is happening now. It isn't a future issue — it's a current issue that grows more urgent every day," Ama Francis, a climate-displacement project strategist at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said.<div type="image" title="Two Maui residents look through the ashes of their family home after the wildfires this week." height="4349" width="5798" msid="103642329" hostid="261" sizebytes="1384026"></div><h2>Migration and the climate crisis</h2>In August, wildfires devastated the Hawaiian island of <a href="https://www.insider.com/maui-hawaii-wildfires-update-photos-damage-2023-8?_gl=1*xqb9t6*_ga*MTk0Njc5OTAyNS4xNjg2MDc2MTgz*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5NDE3NTE1Ny4xNjMuMC4xNjk0MTc1MTY5LjQ4LjAuMA..">Maui</a>, resulting in a death toll of at least 115 people. An estimated <a href="https://apnews.com/article/maui-hawaii-fires-lahaina-destruction-evacuation-38ec0d6a5c610035a0a72b804fcdffe0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4,500 people</a> have been displaced from their homes. Climate change is thought to be one of several contributors to the wildfires — as droughts increased in the region, vegetation dried, creating dry conditions conducive to fires.In an <a href="https://time.com/6305817/maui-wildfires-climate-change-colonialism-essay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">essay</a> for Time following the wildfires, Kaniela Ing, a former Hawaii state legislator, underscored how those most affected by the climate crisis were often Indigenous, Black, brown, and low-income communities."These groups have contributed the least to climate change, but have suffered the most, and must be prioritized in our transition to a better world," Ing wrote.Migration and the climate crisis are inextricably linked, climate experts say. Without addressing the emergency, the migration crisis will continue to escalate."Only addressing migration without acknowledging climate change disregards the increasing drivers of migration," Adelle Thomas, a senior fellow at the University of the Bahamas, said. According to data analyzed by ProPublica and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>, 1% of the planet is considered "a barely habitable hot zone." By 2070, that number could reach 19%. This crisis could trigger a series of massive migrations worldwide.<div type="image" title="Members of the Lahaina Canoe Club hold hands in prayer in honor of a member who died in the fires. The outing was the first time the club members, many of whom lost their homes, had paddled together since the fires." height="1389" width="1853" msid="103642330" hostid="261" sizebytes="167048"></div><h2>Island nations are especially vulnerable</h2>Island nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific are especially vulnerable to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, increased drought, and changes in rainfall patterns. A <a href="https://disasterdisplacement.org/portfolio-item/fma-caribbean" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case study</a> by Francis from 2019 found that the Caribbean region accounted for six out of the 10 countries and territories worldwide with the highest average annual internal displacement per capita. A 2018 IDMC <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/WIM%20TFD%20III.1-3%20Output.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> also predicted that 5.9% of the population of the Bahamas could be displaced annually because of tropical cyclones.Yet experts say there's no sustainable adaptation strategy. Thomas told Insider that our ability to respond to climate hazards in the Caribbean was constrained by the region's small physical size, limited economies of scale, small relative population size, and limited reliance on natural-environment sectors. "These characteristics make it more difficult to sustainably develop and also make it more challenging to respond to the escalating hazards that climate change presents," Thomas said. On top of the lack of policies, climate researchers said international legal protections for climate refugees were made almost impossible through a narrow set of rules defined by the Refugee Convention. No nation accepts climate change, specifically, as a reason to offer asylum, Kayly Ober, a senior program officer for the climate, environment, and conflict program at the US Institute of Peace, said."I do believe that we need a strengthened system in which climate change should be part of the assessment and criteria used to determine refugee or status," she said. <div type="image" title="An aerial view of damage caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island on September 4, 2019." height="2000" width="2666" msid="103642333" hostid="261" sizebytes="1544328"></div><h2>Recognizing the rights of climate-displaced people</h2>In 2019, Hurricane Dorian left about <a href="https://wgntv.com/2019/09/08/future-uncertain-for-70000-in-the-bahamas-left-homeless-by-dorian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70,000 Bahamians</a> homeless. The Trump administration would not grant Temporary Protected Status to those who sought refuge from the natural disaster, despite acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-dismisses-idea-allowing-bahamians-u-s-after-hurricane-dorian-n1051576" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that the status would be "appropriate" given the circumstances."I don't want to allow people that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States, including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very, very bad drug dealers," President Donald Trump said in a controversial press briefing following the hurricane."Relocation of people is a very complex process that will need to incorporate the involvement of the international community in the event that there is a need for international migration," Thomas said. "As we see global temperatures continue to rise, there is a critical need for further attention to these issues in order to develop potential solutions for just and equitable migration."If there's one thing the international community, including the US, could do, it's strengthen the policy to recognize the rights of climate-displaced people, experts told InsiderFrancis suggested the Biden administration implement existing legal tools outlined in a 2021 <a href="https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/u-s-opportunities-to-address-climate-displacement-august-2-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Refugee Assistance Project report</a>. Policies include leveraging the US refugee definition, Temporary Protected Status, and training for immigration officials to recognize how the climate crisis contributes to valid refugee claims.<div type="image" title="Displaced people stay in a warehouse in Haiti after losing their homes to flooding due to Hurricanes Ike and Hanna in 2008. The country was subjected to four powerful hurricanes and tropical storms within only 20 days." height="768" width="1024" msid="103642334" hostid="261" sizebytes="53100"></div>"Since 2008, climate-related and other environmental disasters have displaced more people within their own countries than conflict," Francis told Insider. "As climate change increasingly drives people to flee their homes, there is a pressing need to build on existing law to address climate displacement." Climate experts agree that displacements in the Pacific and the Caribbean are also a social-justice issue."If we look, historically and even now, at which countries have been emitting the majority of greenhouse gasses versus who is suffering from impacts, then we see incredible injustices," Thomas said.In fact, while Caribbean islands have some of the <a href="https://intraacpgccaplus.org/story/caribbean-countries-reduce-their-carbon-emissions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world's lowest greenhouse gas emissions</a>, they are the most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis.By using a climate-justice lens, Thomas added, supporting those who are being displaced is "not charity but instead addresses injustices and inequalities that have caused this need in the first place."Experts say there's still a lot of work to be done. In addition to reducing emissions, climate advocates call for strengthened policies to ensure those affected by climate disasters have access to safety."People shouldn't be forced to leave home because of climate change," Francis said. "Providing islands with the resources to adapt is very important so that people can stay in place if that's what they choose."

Recognizing the rights of climate refugees is the first step to relocating the millions of vulnerable island-nation residents who could be displaced in the next 3 decades

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> ranked fifth in the world in terms of absolute losses due to <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword>.</li><li>India’s monetary losses stood at a fraction of costs seen by US and China. </li><li>The human costs on climate change on India could be much worse.</li></ul>India saw $79.5 billion in economic losses between 1998 and 2017 due to climate-change disasters, ranking fifth in the world in terms of absolute monetary losses. But the country faces a far greater risk in terms of human costs and impact on development, a major UN study has warned. According to the <a href="https://www.unisdr.org/2016/iddr/IDDR2018_Economic%20Losses.pdf">study</a> by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, as a lower-middle income country, economic losses mean “crippling consequences” for future development. An alarming number of people are now internally displaced every year by extreme weather events and climate-related disasters often losing their homes and their livelihoods, the report has pointed out. Economic disasters and poverty are closely tied. According to <keyword id="6354424" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-bank">World Bank</keyword>, the real cost to the global economy is in the tune of $520 billion per annum, with disasters putting 26 million people into poverty every year, the report noted. Floods were the most frequent types of disaster, making up 43% of all recorded events in the past 20 years. India has been seeing an increasing number of extreme weather events such as floods in recent years. According to a study by the <keyword id="6355166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-meteorological-department">India Meteorological Department</keyword>, India saw 285 flooding events between 1950-2017 that killed 71,000 and drove 19 million into homelessness. The recent floods in the southern state of <keyword id="28504" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword> <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Politics/pkRlIk0b6ycCVFNRTm2MkL/A-third-of-145-million-Kerala-relief-camp-inmates-return-ho.html">displaced</a> nearly 1.5 million people. A global problem High income countries including the the US have fared much worse in terms of absolue economic losses partly due to high asset values and frequency of disaster events. India’s losses in monetary terms seem only a fraction of those seen by the US and China with the US posting the biggest losses ($945 billion), double of that seen by China at $492 billion. Globally, climate-related disasters contributed to $2.2 trillion in losses, more than two-thirds (77%) of all reported losses including other natural geophysical disasters. The study comes in the wake of another major report by the UN earlier this week which warned of <keyword id="6951828" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Runaway-climate-change">runaway climate change</keyword> with disastrous consequences if global temperatures rise beyond 1.5°C. The current targets for cutting greenhouse emissions that contribute towards <keyword id="6366055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-warming">global warming</keyword> set during the last climate accord falls significantly short and will have to be revised urgently, according to the UN. China, the European Union and the US account for more than half of total global greenhouse emissions as of 2013, <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/interactive-chart-explains-worlds-top-10-emitters-and-how-theyve-changed">according to data </a>from the World Resources Institute. India contributed to 6.67% of global emissions with energy from fossil fuels being the largest source.

Why the staggering costs of climate change on India are much more than monetary losses

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Greene, who's previously rubbished climate change, is using it as an argument in Congress.</li><li>She said migrants should stay away from the US because of climate-changed fueled natural disasters.</li></ul>Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bizarrely tried to use climate change as a reason why migrants should be prevented from entering the US — despite the fact that she's previously claimed that climate change is in itself a scam.Speaking at a <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/tomorrow-at-2pm-higgins-to-lead-subcommittee-hearing-on-biden-admins-failure-to-prepare-for-the-end-of-title-42/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">border security and enforcement hearing on Tuesday</a>, the Republican tried to argue that migrants should steer clear of the US given how unsafe it was due to climate change. "Natural disasters, talk about climate change," Greene said. "This is the fourth largest country in the world. We have an extremely diverse climate. We have a wide range of natural disasters, 97 natural disasters occurred in 2021."She added: "I don't think this is very safe for migrants here in America. How many are they having in their country?"However, less than two months ago, Greene seemed convinced that climate change is a "scam" and that fossil fuels are "amazing."In a <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1647251668373839878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1647251668373839878%7Ctwgr%5Ec353d79de5818dbf261c31b0dbb0f357a6b5c799%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.salon.com%2F2023%2F04%2F15%2Ffossil-fuels-are-natural-and-amazing-says-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-in-a-rant-on-twitter%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet</a> in April, she wrote: "Yes our climate will change, and it's totally normal!"She added: "Don't fall for the scam, fossil fuels are natural and amazing. They produce an abundance of energy that we all need to survive along with more products than you can possibly imagine."<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1647251668373839878/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>Greene also seemed to believe that global warming was good for the planet, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xa8ZxE_ics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> in June last year that "we have had more food grown" since the world "warmed 1 degrees Celsius."The United Nations has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-alter-human-life-un-ipcc-report-2022-2">warned</a> about the effects of climate change, saying last year that the earth warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius or more could drastically impact the our physical health, our physical environment, and the survival of animal species. Greene's representatives did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who previously said climate change is a 'scam,' is now using it as an argument to deter migrants coming into the US

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Climate change is burning a hole in Americans' wallets. </li><li>In 2021, 20 separate <keyword id="11917810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="natural-disaster" source="Orion">natural disaster</keyword> events hit the US, totalling $145 billion in damages.</li></ul>The climate crisis means natural disasters happen more often and are more severe — and they're burning a hole in the America's wallets.2021 marked the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/time-series">third most costly</a> for natural disaster events in the more than 200 years the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been tracking. The US was hit with 20 separate billion-dollar climate events, totalling $145 billion in damages. The US is <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/think-2020s-disasters-are-wild-experts-predict-worse-in-the-future">expected</a> to experience even more natural disasters in the years to come, driving costs even higher. "We can expect a significant jump in extreme weather over the next 20 or 30 years," Piers Forster, a climate scientist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/climate-change-report-ipcc-un.html">told </a>the New York Times. "Things are unfortunately likely to get worse than they are today."Impacts of the climate crisis will intensify, causing financial losses to trend upward, and homeowners, <keyword id="12948769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insurance-companies" source="Orion">insurance companies</keyword>, taxpayers and the government will all have to foot the bill. This means more homeowners falling behind on their mortgage as insurance doesn't always cover damage costs. The Biden administration has said <keyword id="12948770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="government-aid" source="Orion">government aid</keyword> will be <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/">necessary</a> to ease costs on Americans as the climate crisis is likely to have a <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/climate-change/">lasting presence</a>. Munich RE, a German multinational insurance company, <a href="https://www.munichre.com/en/company/media-relations/media-information-and-corporate-news/media-information/2022/natural-disaster-losses-2021.html">claims</a> the US accounted for an exceptionally high proportion of losses in 2021, of which some $85 billion were insured. It notes that both overall and insured losses were significantly higher than 2020 and 2019 when they came in at $100 billion and $52 billion, respectively."Each year across the world, natural catastrophes destroy assets running into multiple billions." The company said. "Often, only a tiny proportion of this damage is insured." <h2>Standard home insurance typically doesn't cover natural disasters</h2>Despite the threat of climate crisis, millions of American households remain uninsured. The Insurance Institute <a href="https://www.iii.org/article/spotlight-on-flood-insurance">claims</a> that in 2020, only 27% of all homeowning policyholders said they had flood insurance. This could be attributed to the fact that natural disasters are not typically covered under a standard home insurance policy, and specialty insurance puts additional pressure on finances.For many low to moderate income households, supplemental coverage is <a href="https://www.rand.org/news/press/2020/06/03.html">out of the question</a> as it could mean the difference between having a warm meal or paying the mortgage. However, opting out often leads to even more costs as these households <a href="https://www.corelogic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/06/Hurricane-Report_V2WEB062921.pdf">typically struggle</a> to pay for both repairs and housing following a disaster. This happened to the residents of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who were hit by both Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta in 2020. A study by CoreLogic, an analytics company, <a href="https://www.corelogic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/06/Hurricane-Report_V2WEB062921.pdf">found</a> that the market's mortgage delinquency rates increased as homeowners struggled to make repairs and slipped behind on their mortgage payments."For those who are homeowners, the result of a financial catastrophe results in mortgage delinquency rates increasing significantly as people, crippled by expenses and lost wages, fail to make monthly mortgage payments," CoreLogic said. "After Hurricane Laura made landfall in Lake Charles, the already-high delinquency rate shot up from 9.8% in August 5 2020 to 16.1% in September 2020, an increase of 6.3 percentage points."<h2>The government has to step in to help</h2>For uninsured homeowners there is still hope — <keyword id="12723054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fema" source="Orion">FEMA</keyword>'s assistance programs. While FEMA can not duplicate insurance payments, the organization <a href="https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210202/fema-may-be-able-help-if-insurance-doesnt-cover-some-disaster-expenses">aims to help</a> survivors of natural disasters whose expenses aren't fully covered by insurance or if an insurance settlement is delayed. In 2021, the organization received additional funding from the Biden Administration's $3.46 billion <a href="https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210805/biden-administration-commits-historic-346-billion-hazard-mitigation-funds">commitment</a> in hazard mitigation funds. FEMA also took the extra step of <a href="https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_updated-iappg-version-1.1.pdf">expanding</a> its services of underserved communities, to include individuals with low income and people of color, who they say "struggle more when recovering from disasters in comparison to communities with greater resources." The amendment applies to its Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide and has created additional flexibilities that ensure access to assistance for all survivors. "Climate change is our country's biggest crisis," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said. "Our communities will continue to suffer from losses caused by extreme weather events unless we invest in mitigation efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change."She added that new funding will allow the organization to provide direct aid to states, tribes, and territories to complete mitigation projects, build better infrastructure and create long term solutions.Whether homeowners pay for repairs out-of-pocket, through insurance, or FEMA aid, it's clear the US is in the phase of paying to fix the results of climate crisis after failing to prevent it.Are you a homeowner whose home was damaged by a natural disaster? Reach out to this reporter at <a href="mailto:alloyd@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alloyd@insider.com</a> to share your story.

America spent $145 billion on damaged homes after 20 climate events in 2021 — it will only get more expensive

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/dvsakharov">Dmitrii Sakharov/Shutterstock</a></div></div></div>2017 was a <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/overview">record year</a> for natural disasters in the US, with 16 severe weather events causing at least $306 billion in damages. While 2018 portends to be less destructive, it has already seen its fair share of catastrophe: As of July 9, six storms have each generated at least $1 billion in losses.To figure out what areas are least vulnerable to natural disaster in the future, we asked 11 climatologists where they would consider living to avoid climate change. All were quick to note that no area is entirely safe, but a few cities could be less vulnerable than most.Scientists are still working to define the relationship between climate change and natural disasters. In the last ten to 15 years, they have <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-can-now-blame-individual-natural-disasters-on-climate-change/">found evidence</a> of the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo3019.epdf?referrer_access_token=s-33n6R93SdepZXTiNfgS9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PM6YSPpYVStdF73lrDnowLQiJcaGTz5zhCmrOyiMQgC3ZXItsjHzhiaeH2DTEaa24p6zVI25tPgRfXM6tX0q_aE-VyfYVdwsyqqn-GpiffeaB3SKXilRme_Ep5_tLt6LeOITcwnEmDaY5_sDqy-6GsAONJHPTToc15TR4nE8EEVdfRg14C2jFgJZw9RVhxj3jrAw7jyay4cgrTSauzY96V4CSh7f3BDaG4D0Ez6ZdKXT37jWrNw_tuR7-mGVwZPhQ%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.scientificamerican.com">mounting influence</a> of climate change on major events like heat waves, droughts, and heavy rains. In fact, climate change may already be impacting where Americans choose to move. A <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3073842">recent study </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rising-seas-are-threatening-the-value-of-costal-real-estate-2018-8">found that</a> American homes that are vulnerable to rising sea levels sell for around 7% less than similar unexposed properties - even though the damage could be decades away. The following cities were recommended by climatologists as some of the least vulnerable to disaster.

You Searched For "climate disaster" and got 11 results

Climate disasters killed 688 people and cost the US more than $145 billion last year

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Climate disasters in the US broke records in 2020. Scientists may now know why: Earth was the hottest it has ever been.

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Brands like Apple and Molson Coors think a future of extreme weather and climate disasters will be profitable

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Here's how natural disasters are shaping the buy-versus-rent decision in vulnerable states like Florida

Kelly Cloonan

federal emergency funds benefit richer, whiter communities, studies show

Ellen Cranley,Ellen Cranley

Despite mounting danger, Americans keep moving to the counties at highest risk for wildfires, floods, and droughts

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Recognizing the rights of climate refugees is the first step to relocating the millions of vulnerable island-nation residents who could be displaced in the next 3 decades

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Why the staggering costs of climate change on India are much more than monetary losses

Rimin Dutt

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who previously said climate change is a 'scam,' is now using it as an argument to deter migrants coming into the US

Aditi Bharade

America spent $145 billion on damaged homes after 20 climate events in 2021 — it will only get more expensive

Alcynna Lloyd

We asked 11 climate scientists where they'd live in the US to avoid future natural disasters - here's what they said

Aria Bendix

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