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I think you become a climate refugee on the day you retire. Look in any state forum here for people asking snowfall related questions in receiving states.
If you lived in a state such as Texas where drought is predicted to last another nine years and possibly break the drought of record, would you relocate and become a climate refugee?
Or would you hope normal weather cycles would return and stick it out? What factors should weigh in on your decision?
DH has a cousin in the Austin area who's throwing in the towel after this summer's horrible drought and wildfires. As soon as he can find work elsewhere, he's uprooting his whole family and taking a loss on selling his house if necessary to get out of the area.
"The state climatologist for Texas says the record drought of 2011 could be only the beginning of a dry spell that could last until 2020."
"In that time, we’ve seen several drought years interspersed with some very wet years. So we know that the current temperature patterns are not a death sentence for non-stop drought. But we have heightened drought susceptibility during this period, and, according to some studies, the effect of La Niña is likely to be amplified. So this coming year looks very likely to be another dry one, and consequently it is very likely that next summer will have water shortages and drought problems even more severe than this summer. I don’t expect the rainfall to be so low again, mainly because it was so extremely low, but even 70% or 80% of normal will cause many reservoirs and aquifers to be lower next summer than this one.
What about a third year, or a fourth year? At this point, all I can say is that we’re in a period of frequent Texas drought until further notice. This period, with both the Pacific and Atlantic working against us, might be over in a couple of years, or it might last another fifteen or twenty years. It seems likely to last another decade.
While not all of the next ten years are likely to be dry, they could be. In any case, if we’re ever going to break the drought of record, this is precisely the situation in which it would happen."
Skimming through the last link (which looks like a fun read) I saw the climatologist did extensive computer simulations and data analysis of the results. The effects of global warming was never mentioned, just the effects of AMO and PDO two natural cycles. And then he found the two natural cycles suggested a long drought. The 1950s also had quite a long drought.
He did another article on how much global warming was contributing to the drought.
He found that overall precipitation had increased slightly in the last 115 years in Texas, climate models suggested a slight decrease in the future, but the amount was small enough it would be overwhelmed by over natural effects. He found that this summer in Texas 25% of the excess was due to global warming and the rest due to the drought (dry land heats up more than wet land).
So, if you become a refugee, you won't be a refugee from climate change, but from the climate Texas always has had, which is a bit marginal. It's going to harder to cope now that so many moved to Texas! But I think Australia survived something similar.
Have him move to Pennsylvania where the weather has been within the range of normal temps, maybe even a little bit cooler, for the last two decades. We've had droughts but also rainy spells, late springs, mild winters, terrible winters, late autumns, floods, cool summers and heatwaves, warm springs.
Didn't Pennsylvania get extreme flooding? Lots of the Northeast (Vermont, upstate NY and I thought PA) got the worst flooding in over 100 years.
That is what makes me scratch my head about some of these housing developments they put in. It is like they have no clue about the history of climate in Texas. They implement these stupid HOAs that demand people keep green lawns, refuse to allow people to plant "desert style" yards and then when water restrictions come into play, lawns turn brown and the HOA goes on the rampage with fines and notices for the dying yards. Insanity. *chuckle*
Can they actually enforce a fine if there's a water restriction?
What state has perfect weather year after year ?
People that flee after one year of bad weather need to just buy an RV and live in that so they can pick up and leave anytime the weather changes.
Can they actually enforce a fine if there's a water restriction?
Anyone manage to keep a green lawn?
I don't think they can, but what they can do and what they threaten tends to be two different things.
As for keeping a lawn green, the only homes I consistently see with lush green lawns are the very expensive home areas during the drought seasons, though even that is not all the expensive areas, just some.
If you do not like the weather in one part of Alaska, you can always go to another part of Alaska and enjoy completely different weather. There is never a need to leave the State.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
People that flee after one year of bad weather need to just buy an RV and live in that so they can pick up and leave anytime the weather changes.
Adjust and adapt.
Considering how tiny Texas is, leaving the State may be their only option.
People that flee after one year of bad weather need to just buy an RV and live in that so they can pick up and leave anytime the weather changes.
Adjust and adapt.
Gee, he and his family have lived there for 13 years, so it's not like he's just a weather weenie with the-grass-is-always-greener syndrome.
They've put a hell of a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money into his home and acreage. He's survived and ADAPTED to the prior CYCLIC droughts and now he feels that permanent droughts are indeed "the new normal" for his area. In his view, the quality of life is only going to get worse, with so many people fighting for such limited resources there.
If you lived in a state such as Texas where drought is predicted to last another nine years and possibly break the drought of record, would you relocate and become a climate refugee?
I read that article and, from my experiences for the past 40 years around the Texas south plains, it could very well be true. About all I say is that it will be good that there will be less of those pesky Russian thistles and coyotes. Unless the water wells go completely dry, I'm staying put.
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