7. Honolulu
Ah, Hawaii, America’s island paradise. Its Polynesian history and culture plus its world class beaches and natural beauty make it a mega tourist draw. Of course, like Tokyo, the tropical nirvana is also surrounded by volcanoes as well as thousands of miles of ocean. Honolulu is pegged for peril, according to several climate change studies. Temperatures, rainfall, ecosystems, coral bleaching, tourism and tropical diseases will be impacted, but of particular concern is the rising sea levels. They have risen 0.5 to 1.3 inches per decade during the last century. If, as projected, there is a 1 to 3 foot rise by 2100, that would mean bye-bye Waikiki.
8. New Orleans
New Orleans has already been hit by nasty weather in a truly cataclysmic fashion, but it seems that as climate change worsens, the Big Easy will be subject to even more abuse at the hand’s of Mother Nature. It is said that the Gulf of Mexico swallows about a football field’s worth of land in south Louisiana each hour. From the French Quarter to Bourbon Street, the city’s inimitable Cajun culture may soon be sitting underwater. Heck, even if you’re not worried about the ravages of the planet, you should head down to New Orleans, because there’s no other American city that knows how to party quite as hard.
