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There are no climate havens anywhere in the world. Some places might be more exposed and at risk for hurricanes and sea level rise. But, climate change is such a complex problem that it impacts the entire planet. For instance, an unstable jet stream or the loss of the trade winds can have catastrophic effects on any place in the world. It can mean the difference between drought and deluge, agricultural losses, fires and long periods of smoke-filled un-breathable air. We need to lose the term climate refuge just like the term climate mitigation was used previously (again, to justify the status quo). We cannot move away from this problem and go on with life. No one would have imagined that a single storm event would dump 22 inches of rain on western North Carolina. The re-occurrence interval used by hydrologists and climate scientists uses past data to explain the likelihood of a future event. This concept is no longer tenable when statistically extreme events are of becoming the norm.

We need the equivalent of a Manhattan style project to focus on a myriad of actions to address climate change. Climate change has always been a challenge to address because it is supposedly something that can be put off. Well, the future is here and even the best efforts to date are woefully inadequate in the face of this planetary crisis.