{"id":13900,"date":"2021-01-26T11:30:35","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T11:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=154613"},"modified":"2021-01-26T11:30:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T11:30:35","slug":"climate-change-will-destroy-communities-lets-help-them-move-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/26\/climate-change-will-destroy-communities-lets-help-them-move-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change will destroy communities. Let\u2019s help them move now."},"content":{"rendered":"

Shanelle Loren is a Utah-based freelance writer and climate activist.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Last week, the U.S. rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement<\/a>. But even if its targets are met \u2014 and most countries are far from hitting them<\/a> \u2014 the world will still likely be headed for a 3\u00b0C global temperature rise<\/a>. In the coming decades many of our beloved coastal cities may be wiped off the map. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned<\/a> earlier this year that the world must get ready for the displacement of millions of people. At this late hour, those preparations must include helping people move before disaster strikes.<\/p>\n

A growing number of scientists are calling for planned relocation<\/a> (also known as \u201cmanaged retreat\u201d) as part of the U.S. government\u2019s strategy to tackle climate disruption. It\u2019s an idea that has gained traction<\/a> in recent years: In 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a $48 million grant to the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe on Isle de Jean Charles, a sinking Louisiana island, to facilitate resettlement<\/a>. Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency introduced the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program<\/a>, worth half a billion dollars, to help underwrite \u201clarger-scale migration or relocation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until now, the government has resorted to post-disaster recovery: buying and demolishing a handful of houses here and there. (Homeowners receive the pre-disaster value of their property so they can move to safer ground.) But this strategy is changing as more and more policy makers recognize the need to move ever larger numbers of people out of flood- and fire-prone areas to avoid loss of life and the waste of taxpayer dollars used for rebuilding efforts. In 2018, HUD provided billions of dollars<\/a> for relocation and other pre-disaster initiatives like strengthening river basins and critical infrastructure. States like Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina want to fund buyouts<\/a> with that money. Many cities are now<\/a> applying<\/a> for BRIC grants as well.<\/p>\n

Large-scale relocation could cost hundreds of billions or even several trillion dollars. (The cost of moving roughly 350 people in the eroded Alaskan village of Newtok<\/a> is estimated at over $100 million.) It will certainly be more expensive than alternatives like building barriers to prevent flooding. But seawalls, like the \u201cBig U<\/a>\u201d proposed for Manhattan, will require regular maintenance and are likely to fail<\/a> if sea levels rise beyond the higher end of<\/a> projections<\/a>. The Army Corps\u2019s multibillion dollar plan<\/a> to erect seawalls along the coast of Miami, for instance, won\u2019t do anything against rising groundwater<\/a>. And cities that face severe wildfire risk can\u2019t be fireproofed.<\/p>\n

But the current default \u2014 rebuilding in disaster-stricken areas \u2014 could eventually prove more costly than relocation. This is already evident in the American West, where the cost to rebuild after wildfire devastation in three of the last four years has exceeded $10 billion per year<\/a>. In the 50 years prior to that, direct damages from wildfires averaged $1 billion annually. And the U.S. could see a staggering 13 million coastal residents displaced<\/a> in coming decades due to rising sea levels, including 6 million in Florida alone.<\/p>\n