This should happen in a couple of years, once our daughter will be old enough to get a licence and drive to the city if she wants; we don't want her to be cut off from her network of friends.
Climate change is not the only reason why we are doing this but it's part of the list of "risk factors" that in our opinion made it a bad idea to keep living in a city.
We are in Sydney NSW, Australia and we will move to rural NSW.
Climate related factors that we considered in terms of the new location are: no low lying coastal areas, no areas located in a flood plain, no areas close to dense woodlands in order to lower fire risk.
While not reason for moving we did discuss climate change as choice factor. While lots of variables and Brisbane being a couple degrees warmer on average was a factor, though we felt its generally a more stable temperature range and doesn't get the peaks of Sydney so may become more like Cairns type thing going forward, still liveable with temp raises and hopefully not huge peaks inland rural gets. Also being near the coast is an advantage for stability. Humidity is a downside and we'll likely see cyclones coming further south but Id prefer that and rainfall than moving to rural NSW that will likely experience increased droughts vs here.
For the network of friends, obviously you want to keep that but we notice how farm life makes us much more a family unit in comparison to city life where there is more options and people. And for us the local rural community has become a great network. We make a conscious effort (as well as enjoy it) to entertain, organise events and help people out to build on this.
Regarding 'grow most of the food we eat' at the risk of telling you what you know, be aware this is a huge time sink. If you are both working + kids this will be difficult. You will also need heaps of water. A small creek, couple of regular dams or household tanks probably wont cut it. Make sure water is in over-abundance or you can add a bunch of storage/bore etc some way. Also be prepared for looking after the property to take over your life, especially if you are planning for livestock vs a bush block.
Overall we are very happy with having done the move. Even if work or other forced us back to the city I would be glad to have had the experience.
Good luck finding your tree change!
I should have added, lifestyle is a big one for us too.
We looked north of Central Coast but also other regions. We are thinking to be a bit more elastic and a commute of 1.5 or 2h would still be acceptable.
This is a change that me and my wife want, but our daughter who is still a teenager shouldn't be forced to give up her friendships so that's a factor. As I said she will be able to drive by the time we move. And I anticipate in a few more years she might want to move out to attend uni etc.
Me and my wife both grew up on farms (I grew up on a farm in Italy that had vineyards, olives and eggs production, my wife in Thailand had rice, meat chickens and egg ducks), we know what it entails, and that it's hard and that it's going to be a huge time sink, but we still want it :-)
I agree with you re: source of water on property, that is the main factor we are considering when selecting the property.
Good luck with everything! I know several people who moved from Sydney to South QLD they are all very happy!
For example, if we look at Koppen climates: it is true that much of Australia is arid (desert) or semi-arid (grassland)[2], but the non-arid regions of Australia (temperate, subtropical, tropical, equatorial) amount to an area equivalent to the surface of several European countries put together[3].
[1] https://theaustralianalpsnationalparks.org/
[2] http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-class...
[3] Just to give an idea: UK, Italy, Germany and Ireland are here laid over some of the tropical and temperate regions of Australia. https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTU5NzgzNzE.MzQ3Mjg3Mw*...
Being part of a nation with abundance in food and resources + a wealthy educated population has to be a big advantage in adapting to the changes.
Generally I think people catastrophise climate change a bit much from a will we survive perspective. Its going to be bad, but humans are smart and resourceful. This is going to happen over a long time by human standards so there will be plenty of time to respond and adapt, even if that means living in caves or biospheres much of the time. I think the environmental loss will be sad and westerners will see declines in our living standards as we need to readapt to a new world. but overall most western nations should continue on and the worst will be those unfortunate to be in poorer and badly located geographies like Bangladesh which will be hit in multiple ways.
And there could be any number of events like serious conflict between now and 50+ years so who knows....
Our water supply is expected to be more bunched in time, but at least we expect to still get water. A slightly longer growing season and ability to grow less hardy plants should make up for some things we lose.
I'm avoiding reclaimed land and low-lying areas (of which there is a lot in the city), because they're probably going to flood more regularly, and getting flooded is awful.
I'm not going to move to the countryside because (for my lifestyle at least) living in a fairly dense urban area is much more environmentally friendly than buying a one-off house in the countryside, driving everywhere, and getting stuff (water, electricity, online shopping etc) delivered relatively long distances out to me.
I don't have the time, energy, expertise or inclination to grow my own food on my own land, so it's much more efficient to let farmers do the farming, and just walk or cycle to the grocers and supermarkets to pick up what I need. Irish agriculture could be a lot greener as an industry, but that's a topic for another day.
Same goes for mains water versus finding patch of land with my own well in it. Economies of scale exist, and the environment will benefit from my using them.
My AC was out for a few days the other week and it was absolute misery. I was very jealousy to learn that even very hot areas of the country that don’t have the humidity have cheaper, effective options for indoor cooling.
The last one is perhaps the worst. In a societal breakdown, this place will be in serious trouble on food. So one criterion for me is that it gets enough rain that it can grow enough food to feed everyone in the area.
Am I expecting societal breakdown in my lifetime? No. But if I'm going to move, I want to move to a place that's better able to deal with it if it comes.
I blame the media. When the press release came out about the Gulf Stream, several media personalities, including the weather reporter at CBS News in NY made a statement like "Remember 'The Day After Tomorrow'? That's what we're looking at," regardless of how many scientists have stated that is not the case.
I think a lot of catastrophes happen "slowly, then all at once" -- to borrow a phrase.
This perceived phenomenon seems to cut across all kinds of dynamics -- physical world to social. Think of covid, think of immigration (Haitians most recently, but this most recent surge is _nothing_ compared to what is coming), think of the rising wave of progressivism/populism/fascism/etc., think of a 'slow'-moving tsunami wave where beachgoers are laughing and saying "how cute!" and next thing you know then they're running and screaming and drowning -- that's ongoing and upcoming global warming-induced extreme weather events.
So, if someone asked me, "Should I move today?" -- I'd ask, "Where do you live?"
Then some follow-up questions about financial resources and the like.
I feel like it's overwhelmingly obvious why many thousands of Americans should move today, but to take just one example, let's say you live in California smoke country -- which is, at this point, almost all of California and most neighboring states and much of the continental US, but let's say you're in a WUI (wildland urban interface) area -- some place that is remote, in the wilderness, not many escape routes, etc.
You should just move today -- b/c you are breathing health-degrading and even life-threatening air almost every day. Presuming you have the financial means to move, your 'early' move will enable a slightly less catastrophic migration for the millions who will be hot on your heels. And if you move today, you might not die in a fire tonight or tomorrow. And even if you don't die directly from the fire -- burning to death or dying from smoke inhalation, you might die in myriad other ways -- like support staff who re-supply your oxygen have left town -- there are just so many ways.
There are other options to moving -- presumably most people will stay in place unless/until they're forced to leave -- either by government decree, or they're carried out in a body bag, or they finally give up after repeated fires/floods/etc. -- but most people will try to endure in place. They will buy air conditioners to try to survive the new heat waves that will continue to heat places like the Pacific Northwest that never had central air conditioning, they'll try to wrap their homes in tinfoil to keep them from burning down, they'll buy inflatable rafts to try to surve out the next storm surge, etc.
The more-accurate numbers of heat-related deaths from the recent heat waves in the PNW have been trickling out for months now -- who knows if they will ever become known to the general public -- but these disasters are definitely happening already whether we recognize it or not. And we have these thousands of deaths occurring in the relatively-rich US and Canada -- deaths in developing countries are 2x, 5x, 10x, 100x, etc. Central-to-Southern India, for instance, will probably see biblical levels of monsoon flooding that will make their biblical levels of covid deaths pale in comparison.
So, yes, my advice to folks in any danger zone would be 1) move today, 2) if you can't move today, then prepare today and move tomorrow, 3) if you can't move now or ever then plan today to fight and get resilient, however possible, not just by yourself but with your neighbors, but realistically, plan to suffer and/or die in the medium-to-long term.
I think some percentage of folks -- 10%? 90%? -- will give over to nihilism and wait for death, and/or will jump on some self-destructive nihilistic policial movement that will accomplish the same ends, but instead of death for just themselves, death for everyone -- it's only fair, they would think. And much of the US population (30%?) seems to be either already there, or well on their way.
Well, the East (and especially Southeast) Coast of the US has a problem with hurricane season.
The West Coast has problems, but hurricane season rarely registers among them.
You think the parts away from the coasts won’t?