Hunting for Home in a Climate Crisis

In this podcast, I react to the recent New York Times piece How Can I Lower My Climate Risk When Buying a House?

The piece begins by noting the rising concern people have with the growing risks they take on when buying a home:

“A question we get from readers more and more is some version of this: How should the growing risks from climate change affect my decision to buy a house? Or, if I buy a house, where should I buy, and what should I keep in mind?

“It seems especially urgent now, as insurance costs in some parts of the country have far outstripped the rate of inflation. Here’s some advice from experts.”

It’s a good advice, as far as it goes.

I explore what’s missing from the discussion, and why intelligent climate relocation is not a simple matter of, say, comparing climate risk ratings on a FEMA map.

I briefly explain my “triangle of brittleness” framework, and why smart relocation takes looking more deeply into the strengths and weaknesses of different locations — and why the best answer will be different for each of us, based on our lives, resources and priorities.

I also explain why discontinuity and loss only seem to be problems of the future, and how quickly recognition of risk could lead to big economic shifts. Urgency is appropriate when figuring out your strategy for life in a worsening planetary crisis.

—Alex

Other news:

- This new podcast, When We Are, is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and other podcast platforms around the world, should that be your preferred way of listening. Please subscribe, rate and review.

- My work was mentioned in two news stories in the last weeks, one in The Atlantic about the breakdown of sense-making in social media and one in The Guardian about the California fires. Also, a reader asked where they might find this interview I did back in 2022: How to ruggedize your life and prepare for... whatever comes next.

- I have a recent piece in Mother Jones, Trump Won’t Confront the Climate Crisis. He’ll Feast Off It.

- Stay connected on social: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky

- I’ve spoken with the media hundreds of times. I was featured in a NY Times Magazine piece, "This Isn't the California I Married" and My writing was the jumping-off point for the This American Life episode Unprepared for What Has Already Happened, as well as the podcasts Without; The Big Story; Everybody In the Pool and 99% Invisible’s Not Built for This series. I also spoke recently with PBS News Hour about why there are no climate havens.