Quote:but what we can do about it is another ball game.
Well, I suppose we can personally prepare. The near-term impacts of climate change may be:
- Reduction in overall crop yield and some acute crop failures
- Less reliable growing conditions in any particular area due to less predictable weather
- Some parts of the world becoming close to uninhabitable, resulting in an upswing in migration
- Some specific locales becoming unwise to live in due to flood risk, tidal surge, etc.
- Migration of some warm-climate disease vectors to temperate climates (e.g. malaria-carrying mosquitoes)
How do we prepare? Well, many of the ideas routinely discussed here would apply; choosing an appropriate location, putting in food reserves, maybe getting off the beaten track, etc. However, I think the main difference is that climate change will lead to a slow and long-lived SHTF rather than an overnight one. Therefore, thinking of a long-term lifestyle change may be more appropriate than considering a bug out location. Also, the traditional idea of a homestead may not work in an uncertain climate.
I would (and have started to) focus on setting up an "earth-ship"; a living environment as far independent of the climate as possible. So, think about growing things under glass. Aquaponics. Self-contained growing systems. Independent and diverse energy systems to power the above (e.g. wind, solar and wood-gas). Building a stock of seeds suitable for different growing conditions. Increasing water storage (to cope with wilder swings between drought and deluge). Farming small-scale livestock (e.g. rabbits).
If one has the opportunity (e.g. if relocating), think about the type of building that would be comfortable in a wide range of temperatures, that would cope well with a very wet climate, and would be good for rainwater capture. This means good insulation and high thermal mass (warm in winter, cool in summer), maybe a storage tank under the floor to store water and provide additional thermal mass. Think about trees and shelter to mitigate extremes of temperature and worst effects of violent storms.
Climate change tends to be associated with extreme weather events and changing temperatures, but I happen to think the first serious "climate shock" most of us will experience will be a food crisis.
If you have land, plant as many trees as you can. Not to "save the planet" but to change the local eco-system. Include fruiting species, and fruiting shrubs so you are relying on perennials rather than annuals for your food source. These will be less susceptible to a weather-induced "crop collapse" in any one year. The trees will enrich the soil and encourage a diversity of wildlife, creating a local eco-system much more resilient to swings in the climate (but not immune).
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