Climate change is accelerating faster than anticipated, and its impacts are already rewriting the livability of vast swaths of the United States. By 2070, scientists predict that 11 regions which were once thriving hubs of agriculture, culture, and commerce, could become uninhabitable due to extreme heat, rising seas, and ecological collapse. This isn’t science fiction but a data-driven reality.
Here are the areas at greatest risk and the forces pushing them toward their breaking point.
The Southwest Deserts (Arizona, Nevada)
The Southwest’s triple-digit summers will escalate into deadly “wet-bulb” events where heat and humidity combined exceed 95°F. Sweating fails to cool the body. Though the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently pledged to conserve 100,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead in 2023 and invest $77.6 million in Colorado River projects, initiatives big enough to support 300,000+ homes annually; these are short-term fixes.
The river’s flow continues to decline, pushing reservoirs toward collapse. Phoenix and Las Vegas face catastrophic water shortages as groundwater overuse and aridification cripple agriculture. Urban heat islands will turn cities into furnaces, forcing mass migration inland.
California’s Central Valley
California’s Central Valley, a farming titan, produces 25% of America’s fruits and nuts on just 1% of U.S. farmland, anchoring the economy of its southern San Joaquin Valley with 14% of GDP, 17% of jobs, and 19% of revenue. Yet this powerhouse faces collapse.
Relentless droughts and vanishing snowpack have slashed water supplies, forcing farmers to over-pump aquifers, which now risk salt water contamination. Heatwaves above 110°F threaten crop yields and outdoor laborers, while automation threatens to displace vulnerable farmworkers.
The Gulf Coast (Texas to Florida)
The Gulf Coast from Houston to New Orleans faces a dual crisis: sinking land and rising seas, accelerating relative sea-level rise to twice the global average.
Hurricane surges poison freshwater supplies with saltwater, while subsidence driven by groundwater pumping and natural shifts cripples infrastructure. Insurers and banks now flee coastal zones, paralyzing property markets and gutting tax revenue.
Cities can’t maintain sewers, clean water, or emergency services as funds vanish. Livability ends not with flooding alone, but societal collapse. Residents are forced to abandon homes as basic systems fail, leaving communities in ruin.
South Florida (Miami, Keys)
Miami-Dade County holds 26% of all U.S. homes vulnerable to sea-level rise (Zillow), with Climate Central warning that Downtown Miami could face near-constant street and first-floor flooding by 2070.
Saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer which is critical for drinking water is already corroding septic systems and drainage infrastructure.
Tides now push inland from both the Atlantic and Everglades, drowning suburbs in brackish water. As storm surges amplify, salt-poisoned soil and flooded homes will crater property values.
The Missouri River Basin (Midwest)
The Midwest’s “Goldilocks” climate will vanish, swinging between biblical floods and megadroughts. Heavy rains will erode topsoil, while summer heat waves over 105°F stunt corn and soybean growth.
The Missouri River, a lifeline for irrigation, will shrink, sparking interstate water wars. Rural towns reliant on farming will empty as crop failures trigger economic collapse, destabilizing America’s food security.
Appalachia
Appalachia’s humid summers will grow tropical, with heat indices surpassing 115°F as moisture traps heat in valleys. Flash floods from erratic rainfall will wash out roads and trigger landslides in deforested mountains.
Aging coal-powered grids will buckle under demand for cooling, causing blackouts. Poverty-stricken communities, already struggling with healthcare access, will face higher rates of heatstroke and mosquito-borne diseases like dengue.
The Rio Grande Valley (Texas)
The Rio Grande, strained by overuse and drought, could run dry by 2070, cutting off water to 16 million people and 2 million acres of farmland. Desertification will turn the Valley into a dust bowl, while tensions over water rights escalate between the U.S. and Mexico.
Cities like El Paso will ration water, and agriculture which is a massive industry will vanish, displacing generations of farming families.
Coastal Carolinas and Georgia
Sea-level rise is accelerating here much faster than the global average, drowning wetlands that buffer storms. Charleston and Savannah will endure daily “sunny day” floods, corroding sewage systems and turning streets into rivers.
Hurricanes will push further inland, destroying billions in coastal property. Saltwater will poison rice fields and freshwater ecosystems, erasing cultural heritage and livelihoods tied to the coast.
The High Plains (Oklahoma, Kansas)
The Ogallala Aquifer, which irrigates 30% of U.S. crops, is being drained at a catastrophic pace: just 3% was tapped by 1960, soaring to 30% by 2010, with 69% projected for 2060. Replenishing it would take 500 to 1,300 years – a timeline rendering it functionally nonrenewable. As water vanishes, Dust Bowl-era storms will return, whipping barren plains into toxic clouds.
Farms will collapse under 100°F summers, depopulating towns and severing America’s grain supply chain. Without intervention, the nation’s breadbasket risks becoming a wasteland by 2070.
Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon)
Wildfires, fueled by drought and beetle-killed forests, will choke the region with smoke for months each year. Cities like Portland will endure “heat domes” over 115°F, buckling roads and overloading hospitals.
The salmon industry, critical to Indigenous communities, will collapse as rivers warm while acidifying oceans kill shellfish. Air quality will rank among the world’s worst, making outdoor work impossible and tourism unsustainable.
Alaska’s Permafrost Zones
An estimated 85% of Alaska was once encased in ice, but thawing permafrost is now collapsing the ground, leaving “ghost ice wedges” which are thin soil layers masking gaping craters where ancient ice vanished.
Drunkenly leaning spruce trees and sinking villages expose the chaos. By 2070, much of the remaining permafrost could melt, destabilizing roads, pipelines, and Indigenous hunting traditions reliant on caribou and salmon. Coastal towns like Nome will drown under rising seas, while methane released from thawed ice accelerates warming.
These projections are a wake-up call, not a death sentence. Decisive action such as slashing emissions, restoring ecosystems, and reengineering infrastructure, could soften the blow. Yet time is slipping away. For millions, migration will become the only option, reshaping America’s demographic and economic landscape.
