Global warming - Where will the BEST and WORST places to live if it turns out to be true?

Question

OK - so global warming is happening (either man-made or not). Where will the BEST and WORST places to live in the world in 50, 100, 200 and 500 years?

Also - if you know anything about the British Isles (UK and Ireland) some information about where the flooding is least and most likely to happen would be good.

Answer 1

best place would be somewhere in the moon or mars

Answer 2

I would think somewhere that is above sea level, somewhere high.

Answer 3

Scottish highlands may not be a bad place to live, with a bit of warming, but it may get a lot of rain.

Warming could however trigger a major glacial melt from Greenland that could introduce a mini-ice age for Europe as cold fresh water covers large parts of the N Atlantic.

This would be very evident in Scotland, but not necessarily as difficult as it might be in Norway, Sweden, Finland, even Poland, and the Baltic states.  

The effect of a Greenland  glacial melt would subside, beyond which we might expect to see a much larger glacial melt from Antarctica... a long period of Nina cold weather until most of the antarctic glaciers have flooded out over southern oceans. During this period, not mush before, we should expect to see rising sea levels. We could be well into late century before we are seeing that... but we can predict the timing much better when most of the coastal antarctic precipitation is rain.  

Once we start to see rising sea levels, one of our longed for benefits of global warming will disappear. That is the lands close to Hudson's  bay, vast lowlands that could be rice growing but for the cold, will  no longer be available because they are already at risk of flooding.

Right now it would be impractical to d**e those lands, with ice being able to knock down any d**e.

I expect that southern Greenland could again become habitable  and possibly that north-reaching peninsula of Antarctica. South America's southern tip is likely to be more habitable, up as far north as the Falklands.

Large areas of Alaska and northern Canada may be  tolerable, along with Siberia and northern China.

We hear stories of deserts becoming  better watered. Eventually that will happen, but the outcome is likely to be long delayed. In the mean time we are likely to see heavy rains that run off interspersed with very long periods of drought.

This may be helped greatly by levelling desert and surrounding the levelled areas with berms to  retain large volumes of water.

Answer 4

Based on the most dire predictions, the best place would be Moon Base Alpha, so let's hurry and get that built. Coastal areas have flooded during prior warming periods so if it gets that warm those areas will be impacted if no dikes are built. Holland is already below sea level and they've managed to endure quite well. Australia might prosper as most deserts will get more rain and there's a lot of arid land there. Africa may see the return of deltas that have been gone for centuries. Inland lakes may also return and there were once great inland lakes in the US and in Europe. You could look at geological charts of past warming periods to get an idea of what might happen if it is in fact going to keep warming, if it's as much warming as they predict, and if we don't do anything to stop it or to hold back rising water levels.

Answer 5

The ocean rises and sinks about 200 to 400 feet (if I remember my Geology courses correctly). But, it will take a long time for ocean levels to change. I wouldn't want to buy property along any coast-lines since coast-line subsidence is almost world-wide, even without the ice-caps melting. Also, figure that the "desert latitudes" will be drying and heating-up to unbearable levels. So, as a rule of thumb (that I'm making up on my own) pick somewhere that is cool today (the upper-latitudes or higher elevations) and is definitely above sea level by several feet. Also, consider how the local and national economy will be affected by sea level rising. Think globally and act locally: reduce your carbon footprint, today.

Answer 6

Scottish Highlands maybe?  Could be wet though.

Avoid low lying areas in London and the South East and if you choose higher areas in this region prepare for the risk you might be living on an island!

Coastal areas are a risk, particularly the fens, Cornwall and Devon. Also stay away from rivers generally.

The BBC have some great resources that should tell you a lot of what you need to know (including videos and maps):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperimen...

Answer 7

There is no "best" place.  The economic impacts will be worldwide, and vicious.  Details here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6096...

You can't hide from this.  We need to fix it.

Answer 8

I think along the edge of the tropical Sahara Rain forest would be nice, The Canadian farmlands is my second choice, Coastal Greenland is my third.  They should all turn out to be rather nice locations. Ah heck I think it won't change much here in Hawaii.

Answer 9

Just as now, that all depends on your own personal desires.   Some people  need snow every winter to recognize the passage of a year.   Some people like it hot and dry like Arizona, or cool and damp like Washington.   If the gulf stream gets pushed south like some believe, northern europe will be like siberia.   Spain might be more like England now.   As the people who deny global warming say, there are just too many variables for anyone to know for certain what will happen where.   Just be ready for some type of change.

Answer 10

Best place would be Al Gore's twenty room, eight bathroom mansion in Nashville, Tennessee.  One of his other two residences would be ok also.  Worst place?  Some coastal area.

Answer 11

The water level isn't going to rise.  Think about it, put an icecube in a cup of water and fill it to the brim, when the ice melts it doesn't overflow.  Ice takes up more space than water because it is less dense.  If the ice melts the seas will lower because A) The melted ice will take up less room than the ice did and B) Ice that was formed over ground (such as in Greenland) will melt away, leaving more ground for vegitation to grow and suck up water.  

So the best place to live?  Oceanfront...when the sealevels go down, you'll have more property.

Answer 12

yes, places that are still above water

Answer 13

There's no such thing as a worse place to live. But I can think of tons of better places.How long do you plan on living anyway?Don't get predisposed with this stuff just yet.Go about life like it's meant to be...enjoyable.

Answer 14

well hopefully, as the human race ,we will be able to stop emissions and switch to green power etc. before the situation gets really bad.

But your supposing the c**p really hits the fan, and sea levels rise heaps. well there would be a lot more problems than just the sea level rising if it got to that point. animals would have mostly died out, we would have to cope with intense heat ect.

but to answer your question, definitely someplace high where you would not drown would be the best place to live. The worst i would think, (although I'm Australian) would be Florida America because it is so low lying. but as someone already said, the flooding would cause new wetlands, which we would be too scared to go near, and so would grow fertile and luscious plants. these would eventually get rid of all the carbon dioxide, causing the world to cool, and sea levels to drop.

i don't know much about Britain sorry, but i would think any low lying areas, especially deltas, if there are any, would be most likely to flood.

Answer 15

I've thought about this before. At first, I was thinking about it temperature wise. So, I thought the safest place to live would be somewhere north like middle-Canada, and the worst place to live would be somewhere like Africa, or the amazon.

   After I thought about it some more, I changed my thoughts to heighth. Because, if the polar ice caps melt, it would flood most of the below sea-level areas. So, now, I think the safest place to live would be on a mountainous range at least 5,000 feet above sea level that has enough soil to live off of, like middle Asia. Then, the worst would be any island thats mainly flat, sort of like the Hawaiian islands.

Answer 16

In the middle of a large continent, far from the equator.  With a space suit.

Answer 17

I'll just stock up on some canned foods and bottled water, and turn my AC down a bit here in the good ole state of Oklahoma