2025-01-28
14 分钟As the risk of extreme flooding increases with climate change, an effort is underway to relocate hundreds of flood survivors to unique higher ground.
Hi, my name is Austin Gaffney, and I'm a climate reporter for the New York Times.
Climate migration is what happens when people are forced to abandon their communities
or choose to leave their communities due to a warming planet.
Whether you're dealing with wildfires or floods,
the place that you called home might not be as resilient under climate change as it was in the past.
As more communities face disasters largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels like coal
and oil and gas,
we also see that it's not only happening on faraway islands or in stories that we read about,
it's happening here in the lower 48 in Kentucky.
They've come up with a climate migration solution that's pretty unique.
Climate change is real.
I'm the first Kentucky governor that's ever said that out loud.
We're taking people who live in a floodplain
and building entirely new neighborhoods outside of that.
I've never seen something like this done in the nation.
And my story is about
that tremendous effort to make this plan happen and help people find a new place to call home.
I'm from Kentucky and I grew up in Bowling Green,
which is a few hours west of eastern Kentucky where this story takes place.
Eastern Kentucky is dominated by the stunning Appalachian Mountains.