This essay may not be for you if you do not believe in climate change. Decades ago, believing that climate change does not exist would have made sense on some level. However, things have changed recently. Since records began, the last seven years have been the seven warmest years on record. Glaciers in Iceland are melting at an alarming rate, much quicker than scientists projected. Karachi, Pakistan, experienced its heaviest rainfall in history last year, crippling the city for days. Many entrepreneurs have developed and built entirely new markets focusing on climate change mitigation. Some of the largest renewable energy firms include First Solar, Inc., JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., Canadian Solar Inc., and Renewable Energy Group. Vehicles fuelled by alternative fuels are another popular and quickly developing market. A huge range of automakers has joined Tesla, Nio, and Volkswagen. Climate change has been on the minds of not only scientists but also investors. Tesla is represented by the largest investment in ARK Investment Management’s portfolio. Nio is owned by Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which controls over 1.6 million shares. Solar is the first of its kind. The United States is the world’s second-largest carbon dioxide emitter, trailing behind China. Joe Biden quickly re-admitted the United States to the Paris Agreement. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and sea levels are rising as glaciers melt due to global warming. Florida is home to 12 of the top 25 climate-vulnerable cities in the United States. Virginia is ranked second on the list, with four entries. A significant metric for our ranking was the overall number of individuals exposed to 100-year flood zones.
Insider Monkey takes a look at the cities most at risk of disappearing in the next century: Corpus Christi’s sea level will have risen by at least 2.6 feet by 2080. The city is ranked 25th on the list of the most vulnerable cities in the United States to climate change. Although a plan to combat climate change was devised in 2002, Cambridge, MA is still at grave risk. The number of people at risk is predicted to rise by 12,811 percent. Newark is the next most vulnerable city in the United States to climate change. Newark has already begun to feel the impact of global warming. Major floods are projected to become more common in Jacksonville and Savannah in the coming years. Once-in-a-century floods in Savannah will become once-a-year floods in the next 30 years. In Savannah, 14,954 people are in flood zones that are 100 years old. Stamford, CT has already been ravaged by heavy rain, snow, droughts, and tropical storms. Warmer weather and ocean temperatures, rising seas, and extraordinarily high sea levels have all contributed to the population in Chesapeake being exposed to 100-year flood zones (in percentage terms). Florida is a fragile state, which is why many of its cities made our list of the most climate-sensitive cities. One of the cities is Tampa. To find more cities on this list, click 25 US cities Most Vulnerable to Climate Change.
