In the last decade, Americans have felt the effects of climate change, from out west to down south.
The increasingly severe weather is causing some people to consider 鈥� and, like the Great Lakes region, Central Appalachia will likely be a popular destination.
That鈥檚 according to a recent report from Invest Appalachia, a social investment fund dedicated to promoting sustainable development in Appalachian communities.
The report, , identified places like West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and parts of Ohio as places with 鈥渞eceiving geographies鈥� where people are increasingly likely to move.
鈥淲e're going to be in that Goldilocks zone,鈥� said Baylen Campbell, one of the report鈥檚 authors and Invest Appalachia鈥檚 Director of Community Impact.
The region won鈥檛 be immune to the effects of climate change.
鈥淚t鈥檚 experiencing increased rates of flooding and is predicted to have increased rates of forest fires,鈥� Campbell said.
But compared to the rest of the country, Central Appalachia鈥檚 climate is expected to remain relatively temperate.
Campbell said it鈥檚 unclear how many people will relocate to the region, but anecdotes suggest the migration is already underway.
鈥淚 mean, you can go to Asheville and there are little pockets of LA that are forming,鈥� he said.
The World Bank reports climate change will likely be one of the biggest drivers of migration in the next century, impacting an estimated worldwide.
In the U.S., one in 12 people living in the southern half of the country are expected to move north in the next 45 years because of the changing climate, according to published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
But Campbell says Central Appalachia is not prepared to take in people fleeing climate-related disasters.
鈥淚t's no secret that our region faces a lot of ongoing, long-term, multigenerational challenges related to economic growth,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we, like much of the rest of the country, are facing challenges related to affordable housing, so we do not have the capacity to welcome and absorb moderate to large inflows of newcomers.鈥�
The problem, Campbell said, is that climate migrants will likely come anyway, at the risk of pushing locals out.
鈥淚n the long term, this sets up the parameters and potential for increased rural gentrification,鈥� he said, 鈥渨here our folks are moving out and folks with more means and resources are able to move in.鈥�
It would be a stark reversal from from the region.
鈥淲e often talk about wanting our folks to come home,鈥� Campbell said. 鈥淏ut we need to be able to have the capacity for others, for newcomers, to settle in the region as well.鈥�
But in order to welcome those newcomers without displacing locals, Campbell says the region needs more investment in everything from clean energy to arts and culture.
鈥淭he goal is to ensure that we can keep our communities in place in an equitable fashion,鈥� he said, 鈥渆nsuring that our folks can dig their roots deeper, working off the safe assumption that more people will call the hills home in the coming decades.鈥�