4 ms·

Ask HN: How are you planning to adapt to climate change?

Not how you're trying to prevent it, but what you're doing, or will do, because it's happening (faster than expected).

superb-owl 4y ago
My guess is the change will be gradual enough (in human terms) that adaptation for many of us won't be terribly hard. The exceptions are large catastrophic events like hurricanes, which will sporadically destroy whole communities.
throwaway2a02 4y ago
I'm currently residing in Central Europe and 42C are scheduled on Saturday. I think it's a new record for the town. But other than about 2 weeks of heat wave per summer, the rest of the time the weather is quite livable. I'm renovating the basement a bit, where it's a lot cooler, so it's not all that bad. The worst will be in a couple of decades when climate migration will become a thing, I suspect.
anonygler 4y ago
Solar Panels seem like an easy win to me. It protects me from PG&E rate hikes, PSPS outages, etc.
t-3 4y ago
The area I'm in is relatively insulated from the effects of climate change, but I have been thinking about moving further north just to get real winter where the snow doesn't melt again. Either that or move to the southwest to get dry heat year round.
muzani 4y ago
I think of it like a volcano eruption. I'm not going to be able to stop it, and no amount of political campaigning will change anything. Just get out of the way. Experts have mapped which places will be underwater, e.g. https://www.therakyatpost.com/living/2019/11/06/9-msian-cities-will-be-underwater-by-2050-due-to-rising-sea-levels/ https://www.therakyatpost.com/living/2019/11/06/9-msian-citi... This was semi-confirmed by recent floods. People would say "City X never flooded, it was a drainage issue." But the floods were drawn along these lines, and you can't drain the ocean in the long term. The 2050 maps are decent to plan around. Even if we slow climate change and turn it around, it might be the state of things in 2075.
- krnlpnc 4y ago
  > I think of it like a volcano eruption. I'm not going to be able to stop it, and no amount of political campaigning will change anything. Just get out of the way. I can identify with this. In my country a good percentage of people deny it’s happening. And the industries that contribute heavily to the problem don’t show any signs of slowing let alone stopping. It feels inevitable and all I can do is use my autonomy to seek high ground with a robust water supply.
Havoc 4y ago
Nothing planned except to consider sea levels when making property decisions
sn0w_crash 4y ago
I genuinely do not think about it. I recognize this might make me seem ignorant. But I really don’t care and am not interested in the topic. I recycle both paper and plastic, I keep my products in energy-saving mode, I don’t litter, and try to keep my personal emissions down. But that might be more cultural than a genuine fear or worry of climate change.
avmich 4y ago
Actively participate in discussions with locally elected politicians could be a useful thing. Supporting those who help track the progress here can also be useful - do we have a website which e.g. lists American federal politicians stance and actions regarding climate? Do we have some news sources which track initiatives and their evolutions?
the_only_law 4y ago
We'll grow oranges in Alaska.
8bitsrule 4y ago
In authoritarian groups, little things are put in for people to start talking about in order to shield the big issues.... I’ve heard it said that if you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans.... <= Rosa Manriquez
marssaxman 4y ago
I have no plans. What difference would it make if I did? There were plans we could make to prevent climate change, and I did as much as I could manage to participate in them. This obviously made no difference, and there is nothing much more I can do, now that we're in for it. I will adapt to whatever climate-driven chaos comes my way when it arrives; there's no meaningful way to predict what it might be, so I'm not bothering to try.
ed-209 4y ago
Shifted my stonk holdings to the new (artificially) scarce things.
jondwillis 4y ago
I installed some solar panels on my deck, changed to an EV, started paying attention to energy and water usage, started composting, going to try to grow some of my own food. Still I can never put the tons of carbon and poison caused by my existence back where it was.
Gordonjcp 4y ago
I can't say I'm that worried about it. I live in a part of the world with good food security, good energy security, and a lot of high ground. Someone recently told me that I *should* be worried because climate change models predict things like temperatures of over 30°C in the summer and 120mph winds every winter, but since I was a child we've had summers just about that hot and 140mph winds every winter. A longer hotter growing season and a milder gale season does not sound like a downside.

Not how you're trying to prevent it, but what you're doing, or will do, because it's happening (faster than expected).

My guess is the change will be gradual enough (in human terms) that adaptation for many of us won't be terribly hard. The exceptions are large catastrophic events like hurricanes, which will sporadically destroy whole communities.

throwaway2a02 4y ago

I'm currently residing in Central Europe and 42C are scheduled on Saturday. I think it's a new record for the town. But other than about 2 weeks of heat wave per summer, the rest of the time the weather is quite livable. I'm renovating the basement a bit, where it's a lot cooler, so it's not all that bad. The worst will be in a couple of decades when climate migration will become a thing, I suspect.

anonygler 4y ago

Solar Panels seem like an easy win to me. It protects me from PG&E rate hikes, PSPS outages, etc.

t-3 4y ago

The area I'm in is relatively insulated from the effects of climate change, but I have been thinking about moving further north just to get real winter where the snow doesn't melt again. Either that or move to the southwest to get dry heat year round.

muzani 4y ago

I think of it like a volcano eruption. I'm not going to be able to stop it, and no amount of political campaigning will change anything. Just get out of the way. Experts have mapped which places will be underwater, e.g. https://www.therakyatpost.com/living/2019/11/06/9-msian-cities-will-be-underwater-by-2050-due-to-rising-sea-levels/ https://www.therakyatpost.com/living/2019/11/06/9-msian-citi... This was semi-confirmed by recent floods. People would say "City X never flooded, it was a drainage issue." But the floods were drawn along these lines, and you can't drain the ocean in the long term. The 2050 maps are decent to plan around. Even if we slow climate change and turn it around, it might be the state of things in 2075.

krnlpnc 4y ago
> I think of it like a volcano eruption. I'm not going to be able to stop it, and no amount of political campaigning will change anything. Just get out of the way. I can identify with this. In my country a good percentage of people deny it’s happening. And the industries that contribute heavily to the problem don’t show any signs of slowing let alone stopping. It feels inevitable and all I can do is use my autonomy to seek high ground with a robust water supply.

Havoc 4y ago

Nothing planned except to consider sea levels when making property decisions

sn0w_crash 4y ago

I genuinely do not think about it. I recognize this might make me seem ignorant. But I really don’t care and am not interested in the topic. I recycle both paper and plastic, I keep my products in energy-saving mode, I don’t litter, and try to keep my personal emissions down. But that might be more cultural than a genuine fear or worry of climate change.

avmich 4y ago

Actively participate in discussions with locally elected politicians could be a useful thing. Supporting those who help track the progress here can also be useful - do we have a website which e.g. lists American federal politicians stance and actions regarding climate? Do we have some news sources which track initiatives and their evolutions?

the_only_law 4y ago

We'll grow oranges in Alaska.

8bitsrule 4y ago

In authoritarian groups, little things are put in for people to start talking about in order to shield the big issues.... I’ve heard it said that if you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans.... <= Rosa Manriquez

marssaxman 4y ago

I have no plans. What difference would it make if I did? There were plans we could make to prevent climate change, and I did as much as I could manage to participate in them. This obviously made no difference, and there is nothing much more I can do, now that we're in for it. I will adapt to whatever climate-driven chaos comes my way when it arrives; there's no meaningful way to predict what it might be, so I'm not bothering to try.

ed-209 4y ago

Shifted my stonk holdings to the new (artificially) scarce things.

jondwillis 4y ago

I installed some solar panels on my deck, changed to an EV, started paying attention to energy and water usage, started composting, going to try to grow some of my own food. Still I can never put the tons of carbon and poison caused by my existence back where it was.

Gordonjcp 4y ago

I can't say I'm that worried about it. I live in a part of the world with good food security, good energy security, and a lot of high ground. Someone recently told me that I *should* be worried because climate change models predict things like temperatures of over 30°C in the summer and 120mph winds every winter, but since I was a child we've had summers just about that hot and 140mph winds every winter. A longer hotter growing season and a milder gale season does not sound like a downside.