If climate change becomes truly terrible, where's the best country to live?

[Blue3]

Let's say some of the worst-case scenarios for climate change begin to come true around 2050/2060. Climate change wrecks the global ecosystem, the tropical zones near the equator become near-inhabitable, desertification intensifies and storms become more common and destructive. Global economics begins to collapse into continental and regional economies again.

Looking at a map of the world, I think there are only 2 countries that have a lot of space, a lot of resources, and would become much more hospitable if global warming were to happen: Canada and Russia.

Islands like the UK, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, and Japan wouldn't be able to support a huge influx of new people especially with the collapse of international trade, and Australia would just become even more desertified.
There's Argentina and Chile, but that's a rather narrow strip of land and includes deserts.
Scandinavia isn't large enough to accommodate all the climate refugees from the rest of Europe and beyond.

Russia would need to worry about climate refugees from China, India, the Middle East, and possibly western Europe. As well as possible invasions from China, India, and Europe.

Canada, based on the facts as I see them, would probably be the best country in the world to live in if the climate change crisis truly spun out of control.



Where do you think would be the best country on Earth to live in would be, in the worst-case scenario for climate change, and who would be the runners-up? Why?

[John Dule]

If climate change melts the ice in the northwest passage, Canada will control the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia in the world. Its GDP will boom.

[DINGO Joe]

If climate change melts the ice in the northwest passage, Canada will control the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia in the world. Its GDP will boom.

I'm pretty sure the Siberian side would be faster and will be consistently open first.

Canada would still be the best country to live in as it has so much hydropower to begin with.

[Ban my account ffs!]

If climate change melts the ice in the northwest passage, Canada will control the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia in the world. Its GDP will boom.

I'm pretty sure the Siberian side would be faster and will be consistently open first.

Canada would still be the best country to live in as it has so much hydropower to begin with.

The northeast passage has been viable for most of the 20th century thanks to ice breakers.  Cargo transport on the NSR (northern sea route) peaked in 1987 at 6.6 million tons and declined sharply after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The northwest passage can not reliably be sailed...and more than a few times people have had to be rescued after being trapped in ice trying to travail it for climate change publicity purposes.  In a warmer future there would be years where it was open but then strings of years where thicker older ice from the high Arctic flows into the straits and takes several years to melt or flow out again.

[Skunk]

Not a country obviously, but I'd probably just move up north to Duluth if climate change gets real bad.

[DINGO Joe]

Russia still transports ships along the NE passage and they're still building new generations of icebreakers

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a27615565/ural-russia-icebreaker/

Whether it comes fully to fruition or not, they do intend to transport LNG from Yamal (Kara Sea) to China year round.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-novatek-arctic/novatek-wants-arctic-shipping-route-open-all-year-from-around-2023-idUSKCN1QG2C5

And it hasn't been uncommon in recent years for open water routes across the NE passage to open up and seems relatively likely this year. 

[Kingpoleon]

Switzerland is always the answer.

[HillGoose]

Pitcairn Islands

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Denmark (Greenland). Southwest already has some warm days (20°C+ on some days)

[President Johnson]

Stay in Southern Germany. In the US, the New England states would be a good place.