Sydney Glide and Andrew Hedgcock knew what weather to expect when they moved to Los Angeles after graduating from LSA. It was legendary, after all; the film industry first moved there from the East Coast in large part because of the consistent sunshine and mild temperatures. A well-known 1970s-era song pays tribute to the belief that “it never rains in southern California,” and everyone from the Beach Boys to Kendrick Lamar has sung about the virtues of its Mediterranean climate, endless sunshine, and all things tanned and radiant.
“After growing up in Michigan,” says Glide, “I’m thinking, no snow—this is going to be awesome.”And some of the time, it was awesome. Often, though, “the weather just had different unpredictabilities that I wasn’t expecting, to put it mildly,” she says.
Glide and Hedgcock—who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in 2016 in screen arts and cultures, and history; and in 2015 in history and museum studies—have since married. They quickly learned all about the new weather phenomena in Los Angeles, including several that are so ingrained in the minds of residents that they’ve earned rhyming nicknames: Gray May. June Gloom. No Sky July.
The couple started talking about returning to metro Detroit, where their families lived. “In the last year, we kept saying, man, the weather is kind of not great, or that we couldn’t even enjoy the beach even though we lived close to it because the rise in oppressive heat and heavy rainfall causes an unsafe rise in bacteria,” says Glide. Ash from nearby wildfires rained down on them. Droughts were followed by floods and mudslides.
“The hurricane [in fall 2023] was one moment when we were weighing the pros and cons” and realizing the weather may not be in the pro column, she says. “Then, the moment that my phone went off for an earthquake alert during a hurricane, I was like, come on.”
This past fall, they made the move to a northern suburb of Detroit. “The heaviest coat I had in L.A. was a fur-lined raincoat. So I did have to buy a new parka,” Glide said shortly after the move. “But I’m beginning to feel at ease knowing I’m surrounded by family and fresh water.”
As was the case for Glide and Hedgcock, people move for a lot of reasons: jobs, proximity to family, affordability, climate. A recent survey by Forbes Home found that almost a third of respondents cited worsening weather conditions as a reason to move, and over half of those who had moved within the last few years reported that their move was unexpected.
The cost, intensity, and frequency of natural disasters is increasing due to rising global temperatures, according to considerable data analyzed by federal agencies, university researchers, and nongovernmental organizations.
Nowhere in the United States is immune, but some places have suffered more significant effects than other parts of the country. More Americans die from heat exposure than any other weather-related event, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with the Southwest accounting for a disproportionate amount of those deaths. Unprecedented heat waves are striking in surprising places as well, such as the record-breaking temperatures in the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 2021.
Coastal cities are sustaining the effects of sea-level rises, as well as more intense and costlier hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that up to $106 billion worth of coastal property will likely be below sea level by 2050 if climate change continues at its current rate.
Two of the hottest days on Earth ever recorded occurred last July. Extreme heat in places like Phoenix—with the past two summers breaking records as the hottest ever—is scalding and often deadly. And the rising temperatures are leading to other dangerous conditions. Increased evaporation and droughts, for instance, make places like California, Texas, and Colorado—and even surprising places like Hawaii—ripe for wicked wildfires.
Parts of the country that are experiencing fewer natural disasters and more moderate temperatures have started marketing themselves as climate havens. “How Buffalo’s Weather Is Going From Punchline to Lifeline,” touts a talent acquisition organization in the western New York city. “Climate Haven Cities: How Madison Is Making a Mark (Without Leaving One),” proclaims an article on visitmadison.com.
Ann Arbor and many other cities in Michigan and nearby states are being discussed by others as potential climate havens as well. It’s easy to see why Michigan might appeal to people as a refuge; the high temperatures are nowhere near Phoenix levels, the state is hurricane-free, and the cost of living is lower than in many coastal areas. Perhaps the biggest draw: seemingly endless supplies of fresh water.
“There are certainly some things that make Michigan look like a climate haven. Water is a huge challenge for much of the country, so in that sense you can see why the Great Lakes are very appealing,” says Julia Cole, chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in LSA. After all, the Great Lakes span 4,530 miles of coast and account for 21 percent of the world’s freshwater.
After a long period of slow population growth, surely it’s great news that people are giving Michigan a second look, right?
If only it were that simple.
As Cole points out, “Michigan is hardly immune to the effects of climate change.”
The average temperature in Detroit in 1920 was 48.4; by 2020, it had risen to 51.9. The rising temperatures have innumerable effects. “A warmer world is a sicker world,” Cole says. She lists just a few of the impacts: an increasing risk to natural and ecological systems, damage from bugs and microbes that thrive in the warmth, algal blooms in the Great Lakes. Extreme changes in precipitation patterns and temperatures, as well as pests and diseases, caused such a rocky cherry season in 2024 that Governor Gretchen Whitmer requested and received federal natural disaster funding for growers.
Other industries have suffered as well. “Climate change is erasing Michigan winters, taking our heritage with them,” proclaimed a headline in the publication Bridge Michigan. Mild temperatures led to the early closure of several of the state’s ski slopes in the past few years, and shorter winters have shrunk the number of the state’s lakes that are safe for ice fishing.
Meanwhile, Michigan and other northern states are warming faster, particularly in winter and spring, driving larger annual temperature changes than in the already-hot South, say Julie Arbit and Brad Bottoms of the LSA Center for Social Solutions (CSS).
In addition, “Michigan has one of the least reliable electric grids in the country. That doesn’t exactly scream climate haven,” says Bottoms, a data scientist. “We’re not prepared for what we’re dealing with in the past decade, let alone what’s coming.”
Arbit, a research specialist, and Bottoms have conducted extensive research into a variety of environmental and climate-centric issues. Their examination of natural disasters in the state serves as a reminder of the impact of the natural disasters Michigan has faced in recent years and has shone a spotlight on what’s to come.
“Detroit had the costliest natural disaster in the country in 2014,” when historic rainfall led to widespread power outages and floods, Arbit says. “Some people still have mold in their basements.” Add in drought, contamination, and volatile air from Canadian wildfires, and Michigan sounds less and less like a refuge.
The Great Lakes State is not alone. “There is no climate haven left on the planet,” says Arbit.
—Brad Bottoms, data scientist with the LSA Center for Social Solutions
Duluth, Minnesota—one of the original cities touted as a climate haven—has had flooding emergencies for three consecutive years. Burlington, Vermont, and areas that surround it have faced catastrophic flooding two summers in a row, Arbit says.
“Maybe the question is better reframed as, ‘are there places that are better?’ Yes, but better than what?” says Bottoms. “We’re protected from sea-level rise. But we are going to see much more common and violent storms. It won’t be as hot here as some other places, but the rate of increase in the temperature will be more dramatic.”
Another risk is that people moving to supposed havens might become complacent. “If they think, ‘I live in Michigan, and climate change isn’t really that big of an issue; maybe I don’t really need to do anything,’ that’s not great,” says Sierra Petersen, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences at LSA and a member of Science Moms, a nonprofit organization that promotes climate action at all levels. “We don’t want people to be unmotivated to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
All hope is not lost for areas that want to become more haven-like. With lots of planning—starting, oh, right about now—some cities in Michigan and elsewhere could still become more livable than other parts of the country. Just don’t use the words “haven” or “refuge,” says Arbit, as those imply a level of protection that no place can offer. “I love the idea of the Great Lakes region as a climate destination, though,” she says.
Glide enjoyed her first fall back in Michigan, and she and Hedgcock have bought a house. She has worked on writing a novel, and he has continued to work remotely for Universal Music Group. When they aren’t renovating or working, they’ve gone to cider mills, had Thanksgiving with family members, and attended a game at the Big House for the first time in many years.
“There’s nothing quite like fall in Ann Arbor, especially on a football Saturday,” she says. Glide has also been paying attention to what’s happening in California. “As I’m sure you’ve seen in the news, wildfires are raging in Malibu,” she wrote in December. “In past years, December would be spent feeling worried about whether or not I’m going to be in an evacuation zone, and if I’m all set to travel for Christmas.”
With the shorter-than-usual span of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas at the end of 2024, she was grateful she had made the move back to Michigan. There was still a lot to get done, especially factoring in the renovation of a new home. “But without air travel and major looming climate threats,” she said, “it’s far more smooth.”
If Julie Arbit were creating a place to live in the video game SimCity, she’d look at fresh water and drainage. “Drainage, drainage, drainage,” says Arbit, a research specialist at the LSA Center for Social Solutions (CSS). “My little SimCity parcel would look at where the water is, look at where it wants to go, and then build smarter—working with the watershed, not against it, and keeping forests intact to help manage temperatures and water flow.”
Alas, it’s more complicated in the real world than in a simulation—but there are still things that municipalities and individuals can do to adapt to the effects of climate change and prepare for what’s coming next.
“There’s no magic wand,” says Brad Bottoms, a data scientist at CSS. “It’s a combination of what works at the local level, based on the topography of the area, the hydrology, the cultural institutions, whether people will resist certain changes. It’s a very complex answer.”
And more of the burden should fall on governments and industry than on individuals “since they are building the things that are causing the problems in the first place,” Bottoms says. Cole agrees: “Individual action to protect your home is wise, but only collective action to change policy can effectively tackle climate change,” she says.
Bottoms and Arbit recently wrote an article about this topic for the online publication The Conversation, along with CSS founder and director Earl Lewis, who is also the Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afroamerican and African Studies, and Public Policy.
“Decision-makers can hope for the best, but must plan for the worst,” they wrote. “That means working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, but also assessing the community’s physical infrastructure and social safety nets for vulnerabilities that become more likely in a warming climate.”
They wrote that “collaborating across sectors is also essential. For example, a community may rely on the same water resources for energy, drinking water, and recreation. Climate change can affect all three. Working across sectors and including community input in planning for climate change can help highlight concerns early.” Public-private partnerships can support innovative infrastructure projects.
All of this must be done with an eye toward the most vulnerable people in society, they wrote: “Pay attention to systemic inequalities in vulnerability that often fall along lines of race, wealth, and mobility.
“Urban heat island effects, energy insecurity, and heightened flood risk are just a few of the issues intensified by climate change that tend to hit poor residents harder.”
LSA is the place where creative thinkers engage with a complex, diverse, and changing world. See how your support can make an impact on what’s next, for a better tomorrow. Learn more.
A team of anthropologists conducts the largest geophysical survey of an archaeological site in the Americas—and finds more than just artifacts with its non-invasive look underground.
Prof. Miranda Brown takes her “Asian Foodways” students on a journey through the past and present of popular dishes, from boba tea to vindaloo curry.
In a world full of screens, a search for connection leads to acts of creation that are inspired by the makers’ academic work—from growing one’s own fiber for knitting to creating a helium-inspired beer.
A bright future shouldn't be limited by financial barriers. Donor support makes LSA scholarships possible—creating access while supporting tomorrow's leaders, thinkers, and doers in their hopes to make a difference in the world.
| Release Date: | 05/09/2025 |
|---|---|
| Category: | Faculty; Alumni; Staff |
| Tags: | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Center For Social Solutions; Natural Sciences; LSA Magazine; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Katie Vloet |
