Table of contents
How to Prepare for Climate Change
Do you have a plan to survive climate disasters? Climate change is increasing the likelihood and severity of many types of natural disasters. Addressing climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures is crucial to reducing the risk of future disasters and protecting vulnerable communities and ecosystems.
To survive the potential impacts of rising temperatures, disease outbreaks, and sea level rise, you need to be prepared for whatever comes your way. This guide provides essential information to help you better understand how to survive climate disasters!
A climate emergency refers to the urgent and critical need to take immediate and substantial action to address the escalating impacts of climate change. It reflects the understanding that the planet is approaching or has already reached dangerous levels of environmental degradation, with significant risks to ecosystems, human societies, and the global economy.
Declaring a climate emergency is a call for decisive and accelerated efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance climate resilience, and implement sustainable practices to prevent further catastrophic consequences.
5 Natural Disasters
Many recent natural disasters have been linked to climate change. It is instructive to look at the various types of disasters being made worse by climate change.
- Hurricanes and Cyclones: The intensity and frequency of hurricanes and cyclones have been increasing in many parts of the world due to warmer ocean temperatures and changing atmospheric conditions. For example, Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused widespread flooding in Texas, USA, while Cyclone Idai in 2019 devastated Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, resulting in thousands of deaths and displacements.
- Wildfires: Climate change has been linked to more frequent and severe wildfires in regions prone to drought and heatwaves. In recent years, wildfires have ravaged parts of Australia, California, the Amazon rainforest, and Siberia, causing loss of life, destruction of homes, and ecological damage.
- Floods: Rising sea levels and increased precipitation have contributed to more frequent and intense flooding events in coastal and low-lying areas. For example, devastating floods occurred in Kerala, India, in 2018, and in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2020, displacing millions of people and causing significant damage to infrastructure and agriculture.
- Heatwaves: Climate change has led to more frequent and prolonged heatwaves in many parts of the world, resulting in heat-related illnesses, crop failures, and strain on infrastructure and energy systems. Record-breaking heatwaves have occurred in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia in recent years, leading to concerns about public health and safety.
- Melting Glaciers and Ice Sheets: The melting of glaciers and ice sheets due to rising temperatures has contributed to sea level rise and increased the risk of coastal flooding and erosion. For example, Greenland’s ice sheet is experiencing rapid melting, leading to concerns about its long-term impact on global sea levels and coastal communities.
Have you got a plan for how to survive climate disasters? Are you prepared for extreme weather events and surviving the consequences of them?
To survive climate change, you need to have short term and long term plans to survive unprecedented weather events, extreme heat, rising sea levels and food shortages.
How to prepare for climate change
The potential for extreme weather due to climate change means that it’s important to be prepared for any scenario. You need an emergency disaster plan.
Building an emergency kit with water, food, first aid supplies, and other basics can ensure that your family is safe in the event of a sudden disaster. Additionally, make sure to have copies of all important documents in case of damage or loss due to an extreme weather event. Finally, know the resources available to you in your area so that you are aware of any nearby shelters or evacuation routes.
Information and Updates on Climate Disasters
Climate change is resulting in record floods, hotter bushfires and stronger cyclones. Consequently, you should focus on which risk/s are greatest in your geographical area.
When it comes to natural disasters (however unnatural the cause) access to early information can be life-saving. Make sure you are subscribed to the relevant weather and recovery agencies in your area.
This can allow people in tropical regions to be aware of coming cyclones and hurricanes. Likewise, in other zones you can be fully informed of approaching bushfires and wildfires.
Choose a Safe Location to Survive Sea-Level Rise
Taking sea-level rise into consideration is an important part of surviving climate change. However, the advice here is quite simple “do not live where it floods”. Avoid low-lying areas, especially those beside the ocean or near waterways.
Whenever you are moving to a coastal area, take a look at the city flood maps. If a costal neighbourhood floods, chances are it will also suffer inundation from water as a result of storm surge and sea-level rise. So do not buy a property or even rent in a low-lying area. If it floods … forget it!
Adapt your home for climate change
How you survive climate disasters is going to depend on your budget. If you have resources, you should design and build a heat resistant house, adopting the latest sustainable building standards. We recommend you employ a professional architect who specialises in this area.
Those with less resources, like myself, who live in houses that are not specifically designed to reduce heat, still have options:
- Ceiling batts (and other insulation that can be put in the roof to reduce heat).
- Renewable energy (solar panels). If you can acquire solar panels and a battery, that will allow you to export energy back into the grid, but more importantly for our purposes, it will give you back up power that can be used to run air conditioning. This way, during periods of heat stress, you will not be reluctant to turn the air-conditioners on. Also if the mains power is out, it won’t affect you, as you’re running from your battery.
- Rainwater tanks. Wherever you live, access to clean, fresh water is more important than ever before.
Grow Your Own Food to Survive Climate Disasters
Climate change is leading to various ‘crop failures’. This will mean less food on the shelves. Growing your own food is a great idea. A food garden can be a precious resource when times are tough. Firstly, research what food grows easily in your area. Becoming more self-sufficient is an excellent idea. In addition, it may well be an important part of how you survive climate change.
Other ways to become more self-sufficient include saving on food. Hence this includes collecting seeds and doing more in the kitchen. Other activities like thrifting, reducing transport costs and learning to recycle and reuse will also increase your capacity to become more self-sufficient and resilient. These are all things we can do to survive Climate Disasters.
Move and Get High
In coming years more people will move to higher elevations, including the Rocky Mountains in North America and the Alps in Europe. In the US, Boulder and Denver, both above 1,600 metres, are already attracting migrants, and Ljubljana in Slovenia is another alpine location with a rich underground aquifer system and lush agriculture.
People will aim for safer places, and they will be better off moving to locations that already have good governance, productivity and resources. Happily, there are many places where these coincide. Some of this migration will involve rapidly expanding existing towns and cities; in other places, such as Russian Siberia and Greenland, entirely new cities will need to be built.