Northern New England Tops List of Best Places to Weather Climate Change

In a changing climate, northern New England is the best place to be. That’s the finding of a 50-state analysis by the highly respected Rhodium Group. All of Vermont’s 14 counties are in the top 100 counties in the U.S. ranked to withstand heat waves, drought, wildfires and other climate risks, and eight neighboring counties in New Hampshire aren’t far behind.

Record heat and wildfires in the West.  A record number of hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.  Rising sea levels along all our coasts.  These are somber reminders of our changing climate.  In the United States, as elsewhere, there’s no place left to hide.

Yet, if you had to pick one region to withstand the ravages of our warming planet, northern New England is the place to be!  That’s the conclusion of the Rhodium Group, a highly respected data-analytics firm, as reported recently in The New York Times.

This analysis looked at six features of our changing climate, using a model where nearly 8 degrees (F) of warming is projected by the end of the century.  At that rate, broad swaths of the American landscape could become largely uninhabitable in coming decades.  For example:

  • Megafires like the ones burning now in California could show up in new places like Texas, Florida and Georgia.
  • Drought and extreme water shortages could be ubiquitous across the West and Southeast.
  • Oppressive heat and humidity, especially in the South and Midwest, could keep 100 million Americans indoors during summer months.
  • Rising sea levels could profoundly alter the contours of eight of America’s 20 largest cities – including Boston, New York and Miami – affecting 50 million Americans overall.

Except for sea level rise, Vermont and adjacent counties in New Hampshire are not immune to these risks.  Far from it!  But on a relative basis, they are well-placed to absorb such climatic changes without forcing wholesale declines in living standards or economic growth.  In fact, according to this analysis, all of Vermont’s 14 counties are in the top 100 counties in the U.S. ranked to withstand these climate risks, and eight neighboring counties in New Hampshire (shaded in blue) aren’t far behind:

Whether you take comfort in our region’s top ranking, or fear an onslaught of coming climate refugees, there’s still time to head off this worst-case climate scenario.  Now is the time to speed the transition to a non-carbon future that uses solar power and other renewables to charge electric vehicles and power home appliances and heating systems.

Solaflect Energy is your home energy management partner to help you navigate a future that’s coming at us faster than ever – and the only local solar company still taking new customers in 2020 to capture the federal tax credit for solar before it declines December 31st.  Contact us, check out our offerings and get involved!  The power is in our hands to make a difference!

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