When climate disaster becomes more frequent, it could be easy to jump to hopeful visions of the future. One of the most damaging presumptions, however, is the budding concept of a climate-change-resilient safe haven. At first assumption, it would make sense to believe inland, less vulnerable cities could be immune to climate disaster. Shielded from the risk of hurricanes or extreme weather, places like Buffalo, New York, Duluth, Michigan and Asheville, North Carolina have become associated with the idea of “climate havens.” Enter: climate haven campaigns. In 2019, then-mayor of Buffalo Byron Brown suggested the city could be a “climate refuge city. ” Local organizations and tourism efforts picked up on the slogan — boasting freshwater access to the nearby Great Lakes, moderate climate, and less likelihood for weather-related disasters. For years, the media lauded Asheville as a potentially climate-resilient zone as the city welcomed so-called “climate migrants” from California and...
