Politics Red State, Blue State, Hot State, Cold State Mapping the politics of climate change.

Even as the news about man-made climate change grows more dire—it is happening here and now, according to the latest National Climate Assessment, a federal study guided by a panel of more than 300 experts—the politics remain stuck in place.

One possible reason: As you can see from the following graphic, the states facing the most warming tend to vote for Democrats, while the states facing the least tend to vote Republican. The Old South, for instance, has seen its average temperatures rise the least of any major U.S. region—and voters in these mostly red states are skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change. (Only 14 percent of Republicans see global warming as a “very serious problem,” according to a recent Pew poll.)


Is this anything more than a striking coincidence? Correlation does not imply causation, and after all, the degree of warming isn’t a foolproof indicator of climate impact. It can’t, for instance, tell us how much sea levels will rise, nor can it predict the likely rise in extreme weather events like hurricanes. As the climate assessment notes, “The Southeast has been affected by more billion-dollar disasters than any other region”—and major Southern cities like New Orleans and Miami are “among those most at risk.”

One thing is clear from the data, though: If you like your temperature just the way it is—at least so far—you’re better off living in a red state like Alabama than a blue state like Rhode Island.

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