Deciding where to live has always been a high-stakes financial decision, but a changing climate makes it even more critical. Just ask any of the millions of Americans who have already experienced the destruction that a warming planet can deliver to your doorstep. For them, a theoretical risk has already become an all too personal one. More people are facing some degree of climate-related risk, whether it’s exposure to increasingly powerful storms endemic to a hotter atmosphere or a rising susceptibility to droughts. The challenge is knowing just how much risk you face, what you’re willing or able to accept and what you can do to reduce the threats. This is particularly true for people when much of their wealth may be tied up in their home (or will be, if you’re contemplating a purchase). And how do you truly know what’s safe, anyway? There isn’t a manual for this type of assessment, and the threats aren’t fully knowable for the particular region, city or parcel of land you call home (or hope to). But there are more resources now, even if they’re imperfect and incomplete. We delved into many of them and assembled a guide, with a series of questions nested within six sections, to help you gauge the climate vulnerability of a particular place or home. For all too long, weather-driven risks have been shrouded or simply ignored. But there are more warning signals now, and we should heed them and educate ourselves about the relative risks.
