How to Prepare Your Home for the Effects of Climate Change
It used to be that climate change seemed to be something our grandchildren would face, and it is a distant problem. But now, when we wake up in the morning, he looks us straight in the eyes.
People make their way through the sea water along the sun-drenched streets of Miami ; The Florida Panhandle, which rarely sees hurricanes, has recently been flattened by megastorm; and every year in Australia and California, more and more large-scale and frequent forest fires are burning. As our planet heats up, climate change in the United States is in full swing. Even if you haven’t had to deal with climate-related problems before, you may soon need to protect your home from extreme weather, fire, flooding, or even rising sea levels.
To see how climate change might affect your area, study climate risks by region using the US Climate Resilience Toolkit . A short video introduces the different parts of the website. You might want to go to the Steps to Sustainability section, which offers a way to assess and mitigate your risk.
For example, your flood risk depends not only on your own home and its location, but also on things like how the city built nearby streams and what size culverts your local public works department installed under your street or road. When it rains harder than ever before, stunted culverts can be congested and streams can retreat and jump over their banks, flooding homes and roads.
In Santa Cruz, California, City Climate Change Manager Tiffany Wise West, Ph.D., published a detailed action plan , including Practical Adaptation Actions for Residents . We don’t cover all the little things, she said, but the City’s simple web page is where ordinary people can start.
Santa Cruz County is one of those rare places that already has a detailed plan for the future. Ask your city and county government if they have a local hazard mitigation plan like this one. But even if this is not the case in your area, you can find a way to address the specific risks your home might face. In general, climate change experts talk about two ways to tackle the problem of climate change, its prevention and remediation. Here, we focus on the impacts of climate change, sometimes called climate adaptation.
Sea level rise
Does your seaside condo run the risk of looking like a castle at the bottom of a goldfish bowl? To find out, find your area on Climate Central’s Raging Seas Risk Map . Older climate models predict sea level rise of 1 to 4 feet by 2100. But depending on how quickly the large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica collapse, sea levels could rise by a dozen meters or more. At this point, we don’t know for sure when this might happen.
For example, the largest ice sheet in East Antarctica is threatened by warm seawater infiltration underneath. This could raise its front end afloat and allow the massive land-tied part to slide into the sea – enough to raise global sea level by nearly four meters (12 feet).
Wise-West says the Santa Cruz plan is roughly the same whether the sea level rises a meter in 80 years or less. “It’s just a matter of shifting the schedule,” she says seriously.
If you look at Port Arthur, Texas on the Surging Seas website and set the sea level to one meter (3 feet), you can get a glimpse into the future. Here is Port Arthur today:
Port Arthur is home to 50,000 people and the largest refinery in the United States. This is what it might look like when the sea level rises by one meter:
This means that if you lived in Port Arthur, you would not only have to think about how the rise in sea level will affect your own backyard, but also how it will affect the refinery and how it will affect you. …
This is a lesson to be learned widely when you think about how climate change might affect you through its indirect effects. Go to your address on the Surging Seas website and see what one meter of sea level rise looks like. Your home may be okay, but the nearest fire department, grocery store, and power plant 30 miles off the coast will be underwater. Think about the infrastructure you are counting on. Everything will be fine?
If the front steps of your apartment are underwater, check your insurance policy to see firstly if you’ve purchased flood insurance and secondly if storm surges and rising sea levels are covered. Carry an emergency kit and contingency plan to evacuate in the event of a storm surge. But think long term too. You can put stilts under the house. FEMA provides advice on how individuals and communities can build or rebuild smarter, safer and more powerful, and portfolio of best practices for mitigation .
Extreme rain
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston with 40 inches of rain in four days, flooding 400 square miles. How can you deal with such a biblical flood? In the short term, evacuate if ordered by local authorities. In the long term, develop an escape plan. But the bottom line? Don’t live in the floodplain .
Flooding due to rain and river flooding can seem like a flood due to rising sea levels, and in a sense, a basement full of water is the same, whether fresh or sea water. But there is a difference. The floods will recede over time. Even with climate change, it may take 10 or 50 years before another flood occurs in this area. Sea level rise is not only not decreasing, but will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. If the sea splashes along your path at high tide, it will be at your doorstep in time.
When in doubt whether rising sea levels might affect your home, it’s not too early to start thinking about moving inland, whether it’s just a mile up the hill or to another state. Boise, Idaho is beautiful and livable.
Hot Summer
Government maps can help you gauge how hot it gets where you live. For example, by 2060, Phoenix is expected to have 132 days a year with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with 92 days a year .
Until you move into (really beautiful) Boise, here are a few things to help protect your home from the extreme heat:
- Paint your home white and use the palest roof you can find.
- Plant trees around your home to provide shade.
- Close every crevice in the attic.
- Insulate the attic and walls.
- Don’t turn on a fan in the attic – it can cool the attic, but it will draw cool air directly from your home.
- Close any gaps around electrical outlets or pipes that go through the wall.
- Protect doors from the elements and replace leaking windows.
- Use fans to draw in cool air at night.
Extreme wind
Hurricanes are becoming more powerful and frequent. This is because the warmer ocean water adds energy to tropical storms as they form. Meanwhile, tornadoes happen farther east than before, and even appear in unexpected places like California . Both types of high winds destroy buildings, ripping off roofs and throwing heavy objects into the air.
Most building codes were written for relatively moderate winds. You can build a house like this that will withstand the 5 hurricane categories. But if that doesn’t fit into your budget, make your own home more sturdy with a windproof roof, garage doors, and storm shutters. As always, be prepared to evacuate to a safer location when hurricanes hit your home.