'Climatopolis': An optimistic look at how cities will handle a hotter future

 

Global warming is a given, writes UCLA economist Matthew Kahn in his new book, “Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter Future.” But Kahn’s perspective on this isn’t gloomy: He says we could flourish in warmer climes.

With pop culture-friendly references sprinkled throughout, the book examines what weather patterns will look like across the nation in the next 50 to 60 years. Kahn creates optimistic blueprints for how life might unfold in 2070.

He imagines New York City-style highrises by the beach, ponders if koi ponds are the best use of our water supply, and considers whether moats should be built around the mansions of Malibu. He writes of making the most of it and of happy endings — not what we’re used to reading in works on global warming.

The author recently discussed his book with the Los Angeles Times. For the full interview, visit our Science section.

-- Lori Kozlowski
twitter.com/lorikozlowski 

Photo, top: Author Matthew Kahn. Credit: Reed Hutchinson. Photo, bottom: "Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter Future." Credit: Basic Books.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

My question is, adapt to WHICH future climate? Tahni is correct, it is really hard for us to adapt to even minor changes in climate. Think dust bowl--that was a tiny blip in the climate compared to what we re facing now. But even if we could adapt to say 5F of warming, the climate will keep barreling on past that point if we don't address the root cause (stop digging up ancient carbon and dumping it in the atmosphere), and then we will have to adapt again. And again. Come on, people, lets just deal with the problem, not stick bandaids on it.

And for Joseph (if I understand you correctly) yes, if we go into another ice age a few thousand year hence, that will really suck too. Changes in climate are hard to deal with, either way. But we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.

[Joseph]

The last ice age ended 10,000 years ago, teleprompter. We're in the middle of a glaciation interstitial, which means that another ice age is likely sometime in the next several millennia, despite the current bout of warming.

And using one outlier data point to prove anything is bad science. You seem to forget we had a major volcanic eruption earlier this year in Iceland, which spewed out a massive amount of ash into the atmosphere. When that happens, temperatures drop for a while as sunlight is partially blocked.

[teleprompter]

I guess you missed it but it snowed in North Dakota last friday .

On the 16th of Sept Dr. John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policyt proudly announced hat the term "global warming" is a "dangerous misnomer," which should be replaced by "global climate disruption."

So I guess any unpredictable weather will now be labeled a disruption.

While you are spewing this nonsense would you enlighten me to why the Ice Age ended 14 million years ago ? Was that the start of global warming ?

[Tahni]

This is ridiculous. We can't even adapt to minor changes like switching our power sources from fossil fuels to alternative energy without inciting riots. How the heck are we supposed to adapt to climate change that has the potential to dramatically reduce crop yields (less food), result in intensifying drought in the western US (less water), and destroy hundreds of miles of infrastructure along coastlines in a peaceful manner? Where is the optimism in that?