Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050? Hey HN, I'm wondering: what are expected to be the best places to live in 2050, considering climate change and the potential for impending societal collapse? What are the characteristics of such places? What should we keep in mind? Thanks! |
I migrated here years ago, felt unhappy and travelled a lot. Only with getting older and mostly trough the current pandemic i realized how lucky i actually am.
- We still practice small scale farming communities that are commercially feasable due to smart import taxes
- We have multiple altitudes, climate zones and languages, something for everyone.
- We have a well working society and government most people are very accepting for. Something most countries don't seem to have as seen recently.
- We are kinda well protected (good army, mountains, plenty of weapons in private homes [if that's good or not, it might be in this scenario])
- I think no country did show how it values the independent individual responsibility more than Switzerland in the recent months. No hard lockdowns, no weird laws that just suddenly appear, no swiss being locked out because of weird border issues, ... Most things were done by repeatly explaining why its necessary and not by enforcing it
- Very good education (for free or at least affordable) and the option for home schooling.
- Quality food is affordable. Swiss always think i am joking, but in reality the price difference between organic meat and not is less, and especially the availability is good compared to any other country i've been to. We also generally use less fertilizers than anyone in the EU
Low population density - check
Good defense - check
Cultural and societal background necessary for a post collapse - check
Carrying capacity of land - check
Energy (oil/atomic) - check
Nukes - check
Base of LOWER(more resilient to supply chain disruptions) tech industry - check
Benefits from climate change - check
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_on_the_Far_Eastern_Hectare
In North America, anyplace that isn't a target for The Bomb. Decentralization is our friend: small towns today will be more important in the future, once large cities are done in.
I mean, as an EU citizen who has lived in multiple EU countries, this is also true today when everything is smooth sailing.
In any emergency situation it won't take long for anti-foreign sentiments to become a cause for concern.
- Cooler climate, and far away from many natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. This should make the effects of warming/climate change milder.
- Plenty of fresh water
- Diverse local economy including manufacturing and agriculture
- Far away from international borders (except Canada)
- Cheap land in 2021, so easy to move to if you are already in the USA
I think this is highly dependent on specific location and the source. Things tend to get more arid around the western half of KY and OH. The Aquifer running under much of the plains-y areas is expected to run dry in the next 30 years. Who knows how weather patterns might affect it further.
On one hand, if Catalans are independent they will be isolated (no EU members thanks to Spain's, and maybe France's veto).
On the other hand, if Catalans are not independent, there will be protests about this, criminality, and maybe even terrorism.
If you like Spain, I would vouch for Galicia (if you like cold climate with rain) or Malaga (international city with mild climate all year).
In 2050, there may be a Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream collapse. Everyone here is posting about how things are gonna warm up - Western Europe is going to cool down probably in a 1C or 2C warming scenario. W. Europe is further north than people think.
The Med is a great heat sink / battery and regulates the local climate. Imagine Nice in the spring, or Barcelona.
To not "pollute" this comment with various links the simplest way to get a few reference points is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich
Of course nothing's perfect and there's always room for improvement (obviously), and Zurich is also a place with a very high "transparency of costs" so people pay for most of these benefits (less by taxes - but more by rent, cost of living, etc.) but to keep it short: Historically and with recent and future developments it seems to be a valid candidate for being a good if not best place to live in 2050...
Best guess is someplace remote, decent soil, good supply of water, somewhat mountainous (CO2 is heavier than O2 although probably negligible, lower temperatures higher up, better chance of rainfall if weather patterns shift and you are located between 2 bodies of water), and not too far south but also not too far north (not sure how fast ocean currents would slow and what affect that would have in each location). Probably best to find a small group of trustworthy and like minded individuals/neighbors to plan with.
If you are anticipating climate change and societal collapse the more reason to go for a strong central government (as well as a strong standing army). There is not a lot of choices out there.
Poland, as many other European countries, has terrible defense capabilities - it's basically mostly a flat plain that can be invaded without having to deal with any natural obstacles (mountains, swamps etc.). Also, there's not that many forests. Realistically, any prolonged guerilla warfare against overwhelming enemy forces (the only strategy that works in cases of big power disparity - see US vs Vietnam, US or USSR vs Afghanistan, USSR vs Finland, Germany vs Switzerland (Germans decided the attack is not worth it given how many mountains are there in Switzerland)) could be only done in the mountainous southernmost part of Poland. Other than that, we're gonna get steamrolled, like we (or France, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium etc.) did in 1939.
For example, I seriously doubt if Asians will live happily in Russia or Poland or Europe in general if society is collapsing.
Where do you people get that nonsense from?
Ask yourself what type of answer you’d have gotten in 1970s when the climate change fear at the time was that we’d all be freezing.
https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/89/9/2008bam...
https://i1.wp.com/www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/20...
