Back off the beach and the rising sea? No way, California cities say

An article posted today in CalMatters highlights an issue that cities along California's coast must address as sea levels continue to rise: how can vulnerable structures be re-located to safer ground? "Managed retreat", or the purposeful and planned re-location of people and infrastructure away from the shoreline, is one of the scenarios that coastal communities must plan and prepare for. 

Rising Seas Threaten an American Institution: The 30-Year Mortgage

A recent article in the New York Times highlights the impact that climate change is having on American homeownership-- specifically, the risks of sea level rise and flooding are making banks warier of lending to homebuyers in vulnerable areas. Climate change risks have already begun to push down home prices in coastal areas and along rivers. Furthermore, banks are trying to get loans off of their books by selling to government-backed buyers like Fannie Mae, meaning that taxpayers would be on the hook if the loans were to fail.

Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance

An article in the New York Times today highlights how in the face of more frequent and severe wildfires, home insurers are retreating from fire-prone areas, leaving homeowners at risk and and potentially devastating the housing market if homes become uninsurable. This creates a complex dilemma for governments, who regulate insurance premiums and must strike a balance between letting rates rise, hurting homeowners, or risking that insurance companies will continue to pull out of vulnerable areas.

Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can’t Get Insurance

An article in the New York Times today highlights how in the face of more frequent and severe wildfires, home insurers are retreating from fire-prone areas, leaving homeowners at risk and and potentially devastating the housing market if homes become uninsurable. This creates a complex dilemma for governments, who regulate insurance premiums and must strike a balance between letting rates rise, hurting homeowners, or risking that insurance companies will continue to pull out of vulnerable areas.

How Climate Migration Will Reshape America

An article in the New York Times today highlights how the overlapping effects of climate change-- including wildfires, extreme heat, floods, and storms-- could result in mass migration patterns in the U.S. that could exacerbate poverty and inequality while laying bare the faults of our policies, which make it attractive to build and rebuild homes in risky and resource-constrained regions.

Calamities Challenge California’s Economic Foundation

An article in the New York Times highlights how the overlapping effects of climate change and pandemic-induced remote work, combined with the Bay Area's high housing prices, could threaten the economic foundations of California's economy. Although it remains to be seen how large-scale remote work will affect companies, many companies had already started re-locating employees to areas with lower real estate and labor costs prior to the pandemic.