The myth of Cleveland as a "climate haven"
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The Midwest is billed as a climate haven insulated from worsening destructive forces like wildfires and hurricanes — but experts say our region still has ample work to do in responding to our climate change effects.
Why it matters: A "hallmark" of how Midwestern states such as Ohio experience climate change is a "weather whiplash effect" like the prolonged drought followed by heavy rain as seen with Hurricane Helene.
- Those rapid shifts strain local infrastructure and hamper cities' ability to prepare and adapt, says Steve Bowen, Chicago-based chief scientist at the reinsurance company Gallagher Re.
How it started: Americans who move from one region to another are increasingly citing climate change as at least one driving factor, as they seek perceived safety from extreme weather.
- Parts of the Midwest have been deemed climate havens by city leaders and climate scientists for their protection from sea-level rise and more temperate weather near the Great Lakes.
Reality check: The Midwest's intensifying heat and precipitation still impose harsh conditions and put pressure on its infrastructure, Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications for the research group First Street Foundation, tells Axios.
Threat level: An emerging "extreme heat belt" in the center of the country, with heat index values reaching 110°-115°F, stretches from Texas to Southwestern Ohio, including Cincinnati.
- Extreme precipitation events like 100-year floods now occur every seven to eight years. That's because as the climate warms, the air can hold more moisture, Porter says.
Zoom in: Ohio has been buffeted by unusual extreme weather events in 2024.
- A tornado swept across 17 miles of Cleveland suburbs in August, the longest tornado touchdown in terms of distance since 1953.
- Hundreds of thousands of residents were without power for days in the aftermath.
- Downstate, Ohio's worst drought in decades devastated agricultural output.
Flashback: Last summer, Canadian wildfires darkened skies and hindered air quality.
What they're saying: "We've always had weather," Bowen says of the region.
- "But what is definitely changing is the fact that the individual events themselves are starting to take on more extreme types of behavior — certainly more intense than we've seen before."