Since I originally wrote this reblogged article last year, our climate collapse has progressed, with this spring’s extreme weather exemplifying a doubling in blackouts from storms throughout the last twenty years. The record heat wave that the Pacific Northwest is experiencing right now, where Portland has reached an all-time high of 116 degrees Fahrenheit, Seattle has hit its own record of 108 degrees, and the southwestern Canadian locality of Lytton hit 117.5 degrees (48 degrees higher than what’s normal for this time of year) confirms an unnerving reality about the position that we on this continent are going to be in amid the climate crisis: even the places where climate migrants will initially relocate to are themselves going to be unsafe.
My husband and I lived in San Diego, CA up until 2016 when we fled to the southern part of Chile to retire; my husband is in his mid 70’s and I’m in my mid 60’s and we’re very healthy. We did not get the Covid shots either. We had been active in the anti, global warming movement in San Diego which was not that successful in shutting down the oil and gas conglomerate, supported by both political parties. We knew from our studies and from the climatologist who we followed and still do that we are past the point of no return, due in part to feedback loops, the melting f glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctica and global dimming. Also, the fact that countries are still spewing out massive amounts of greenhouse gases. So, we knew climate disasters, lack of water and fires will make much of Southern CA uninhabitable, we chose southern Chile to live in. Our weather here has remained relatively stable with more than enough rain and low temperatures. We don’t live in any allusion that more people from the North will migrate to our area because this is already happening because of rising temperatures, droughts and fires from below central Chile to the North. Also add in the Covid economic crisis imposed on the people. The government has now declared Santiago is under water rationing because the drought has gone on for at least 10 years. Since the Covid crisis began in early 2020, the government let people take out money from their pensions. We’ve seen an influx of people purchasing land around us. We live amongst farm lands and dairy farms. Properties are being put up for sale and prices are skyrocketing. So, as you said Rainer, just because where one lives appears safe for now, bands of people, rich and poor will migrate here in greater numbers because of global heating and with the Covid and economic austerity measures the government is putting into place. We watch closely what’s going on around us and we can only hope we’ll survive a bit longer to live out the rest of our short days ahead in this amazing area of Patagonia.
My husband and I lived in San Diego, CA up until 2016 when we fled to the southern part of Chile to retire; my husband is in his mid 70’s and I’m in my mid 60’s and we’re very healthy. We did not get the Covid shots either. We had been active in the anti, global warming movement in San Diego which was not that successful in shutting down the oil and gas conglomerate, supported by both political parties. We knew from our studies and from the climatologist who we followed and still do that we are past the point of no return, due in part to feedback loops, the melting f glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctica and global dimming. Also, the fact that countries are still spewing out massive amounts of greenhouse gases. So, we knew climate disasters, lack of water and fires will make much of Southern CA uninhabitable, we chose southern Chile to live in. Our weather here has remained relatively stable with more than enough rain and low temperatures. We don’t live in any allusion that more people from the North will migrate to our area because this is already happening because of rising temperatures, droughts and fires from below central Chile to the North. Also add in the Covid economic crisis imposed on the people. The government has now declared Santiago is under water rationing because the drought has gone on for at least 10 years. Since the Covid crisis began in early 2020, the government let people take out money from their pensions. We’ve seen an influx of people purchasing land around us. We live amongst farm lands and dairy farms. Properties are being put up for sale and prices are skyrocketing. So, as you said Rainer, just because where one lives appears safe for now, bands of people, rich and poor will migrate here in greater numbers because of global heating and with the Covid and economic austerity measures the government is putting into place. We watch closely what’s going on around us and we can only hope we’ll survive a bit longer to live out the rest of our short days ahead in this amazing area of Patagonia.