'Climate gentrification' is one of the answers as PBS Terra asks 'The Doomsday Glacier Is Collapsing…Who Is Most at Risk?'

Last month, I wrote about climate refugees in PBS Terra reveals 'the Safest Place to Live as the Climate Changes'. Today, I'm writing about "climate gentrification" (hat/tip to Boat Bits) as one of the answers to PBS Terra asking The Doomsday Glacier Is Collapsing…Who Is Most at Risk?

Sea level rise is a problem that is garnishing increasing attention among both scientists and the media. And as climate change continues to warm the earth, the current rate of 1.4 inches per decade is projected to increase, with NOAA predicting another foot of sea-level rise along US coastlines by 2050.

The most consequential tipping point, when it comes to sea-level rise, is Thwaites Glacier, also known as the Doomsday glacier, located in West Antarctica. When this massive ice sheet melts, the earth’s seas are predicted to rise by at least two feet. But perhaps the greater concern is what will happen to the surrounding ice once Thwaites is no longer there to stabilize the region around it. Many scientists predict that, were this system to completely collapse, we would actually see around 6 feet of sea-level rise – a truly catastrophic scenario.

In this episode, we explore just how likely this dire outcome is, take a look at how America’s most at-risk city, Miami, is already experiencing the effects today, and what all of this has to do with gentrification.

Some climate refugees will only have to move a few miles, but in the process, they will raise prices for the people who already live there and in turn make them into internal economic migrants and indirect climate refugees as well. Not only does everything must go somewhere, but so does everyone. Without development that accomodates both the original and new residents, the lower income members of the community will have to move. That will just result in them being someone else's problem.

I'll have more about climate change. In the meantime, stay tuned for an update on marijuana legalization tomorrow.