Australians fleeing south to escape climate extremes
Real estate agent Wendy Wade is increasingly selling Tasmanian homes to interstate buyers fed up with climate extremes.
The owner, Stone Real Estate Southern Tasmania, specializes in homes around the D’Entrecasteaux Canal, south of Hobart, which attracts affluent buyers from other states.
These buyers, particularly from Sydney or anywhere further north, are increasingly citing climate change and the extreme weather it brings as a reason for migrating south.
“People often come down saying, ‘We’re tired of the heat, the pouring rain, the storms and the floods,'” he told AAP.
“’We just finished.’”
Ms Wade operates in the lifestyle market and emphasizes that trends in more affordable markets can be quite different.
Extreme heat is a pain point for many buyers Ms. Wade spoke to; Among them are older couples who are worried that temperatures will continue to rise and are looking for a cooler climate for retirement.
Tasmania is indeed considered a top “climate haven” by Australians considering relocation due to human-caused global warming, according to research by Charles Sturt University and Roy Morgan Research.
Two in five Australians chose the island state as the safest place to live under climate change, while southern Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory were rated as the next best places.
The same survey of nearly 2000 adults confirms that Australians are already making significant moves in response to a changing climate.
14 percent of those who moved in the last six years said climate change influenced their decision.
This was mostly true for those experiencing floods, fires, cyclones or other extreme weather events, and those from NSW, Brisbane and Queensland.
Clive Hamilton, Charles Sturt professor of public ethics, said the phenomenon of internal migration from high-risk climate zones to safer areas was largely absent from public discourse.
“When you look at internal migration or demographic change and the data that the government bases its planning on, they don’t take climate change into account,” Professor Hamilton told AAP.
“It’s like it exists in another universe.”
Despite the knowledge gap, society’s views on climate paradises largely align with the science; The country’s southernmost state is actually less vulnerable to global warming than other places.
“Tasmania is not necessarily immune to the effects of climate change, but it is much less prone to some of the more severe impacts, including heatwaves,” he said.
As temperatures rise and climate concerns grow, Prof Hamilton expects to see more people packing up and moving house, and worries governments and communities are not adequately prepared.
“Tasmania is very unprepared for the possibility of an influx of mainland arrivals,” he said.
“What does this mean for the state?”
For example, social equity may come under pressure as richer people are better able to afford to live in climate-safe areas and poorer households have to cope with floods, bushfires and extreme temperatures.
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