Shawano native on climate migration’s front lines

Climate change is an issue that has the whole word buzzing as communities and nations are experiencing extended droughts, more intense hurricanes, unprecedented flooding and the destruction that occurs from such phenomena.

Shawano native Alexandra Tempus, who now resides in Los Angeles, is bringing attention to a side effect of climate change called climate migration, when the disasters in the world force families to pull up stakes and move elsewhere in the hope that the other side of the fence is less hazardous to their lives.

“As the impact of climate change escalates — as we see more intense rains and flooding, higher temperatures, drought and wildfire and sea level rise — there are places around the world and in this country it is becoming increasingly uninhabitable,” Tempus said. “People are having to move. Sometimes it’s just briefly away from a disaster zone like a hurricane, but increasingly, there are whole communities that are talking about and starting to implement relocation of neighborhoods, sometimes just a stretch of individual homes.”

Tempus’ efforts have been getting some attention nationally. The New York Times published an op-ed by the 2006 Shawano Community High School graduate titled “When climate change comes to your doorstep” last month, and she recently went on CNN Newsroom with Pamela Brown to talk about climate migration and its impact.

The issue has piqued Tempus’ interest to the point where she is writing a book on the subject. The book, which is still in its formative stages and untitled, should come out in the next couple of years, according to Tempus, and will be published by St. Martin’s Press.

“People are moving away from these dangerous, uninhabitable areas, and that’s what we call climate migration,” Tempus said. “My argument is that the United States is experiencing this phenomenon, and we don’t have any sort of coordinated federal effort to plan for or address the issue.”

Tempus cited as an example that funding is available to help homeowners who are impacted by hurricanes and other disasters and help them relocate. However, there is no federal agency or coordinated plan to make sure the funding is getting where it is needed, and there are also no federal programs available to help college students and renters.

“I think what’s going to happen is there are going to be population shifts,” Tempus said. “People are going to be making different decisions about where they move to, and we’re going to see a reshaping of the country, the same way that the great migration of the 20th century reshaped the country. I call it America’s great climate migration, because people hear the word migration and think about people crossing borders, but it’s still migration even if it happens within a country.”

Climate migration has actually existed for a while, Tempus noted, but it’s been “invisible” because most people just think neighbors are moving for other reasons, like a better job.

“Climate has been a factor in moves and is now starting to be a factor in how cities plan where they put things,” Tempus said. “Even moving from one side of town to the other, that’s migration. I think we’re going to see things shift in a big way across the country.”

Tempus has also noticed that many people who are moving without climate change in mind are putting themselves in potential disaster zones. She noted that, according to U.S. Census Bureau, people seeking warmer weather are moving west, where an extended megadrought has prompted communities to look at limited supplies of water, or to the south, where the number of hurricanes hitting Texas, Louisiana and other states has increased.

“These areas are the fastest growing regions of the country, and it’s interesting that it overlaps with these increasingly dangerous climate conditions,” Tempus said. “These are decisions made without consideration for future climate conditions. Now we’re seeing that it’s coming to an inflection point with these overlapping climate disasters.”

From numerous hurricanes in the summer months of 2020 and 2021 to the flooded subways in New York to harsh wildfire seasons in Montana, California and Minnesota, climate change is rearing its head enough in the public eye that it will be key for people when they determine where they’re going to put down roots, according to Tempus.

“It’s critical that we get off fossil fuels and cut down greenhouse gases immediately and drastically to attack the root of the problem,” Tempus said. “In the meanwhile, a certain amount of climate impact has taken place with the climate changes that have been set in motion. We need to start planning around these changes that are happening.”

Tempus, who just turned 33 last week, has been writing about climate change and climate migration for over a decade, but she noted other writers around the country are sounding the alarm on changes in the world and how people need to pay attention to how things are changing.

“It’s starting to sink in for people,” Tempus said. “I hope that, with my writing and storytelling, I hope I can get the message across and connect the dots and show the bigger picture. That’s my aim.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com