7 Scary Ways Global Warming Is Affecting Places Across the U.S.

As the world gathers in Paris for COP 21, each nation is weighing the risks that global warming poses to its people. While the United States isn't the worst off (it ranked 148 out of 186 countries on this year's climate vulnerability index), it's not off the hook either. Climate change is already taking hold, from Key West to the Midwest to Alaska. Below are seven U.S. places that are feeling the crunch of a carbon-fueled world.

Outer Banks, North Carolina: Floods (photo above)

The 620-mile stretch of coastline between Boston and the northern half of North Carolina is the most densely populated region in the United States. Sadly, it’s also the most vulnerable to floods. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that sea levels along this “hotspot” have seen an incremental rise that’s three to four times the global average.

One of the regions hit hardest by this flux is the Outer Banks. In Audubon's March-April issue, writer Mac McClelland reported on how erosion, manic development, and rising sea levels (stemming from melting glaciers and thermal expansion) have wiped out Outer Banks houses and flooded towns. With sea levels projected to increase another meter by 2100, much of the barrier-island chain is expected to become uninhabitable in the next few decades. 

Key West, Florida: Disease Outbreaks

From 1934 through 2008, Florida saw zero cases of dengue fever. But that 75-year streak was broken in 2009 and 2010, when at least 90 residents and tourists from Key West came down with the tropical disease. Subsequent blood tests found proof of exposure in an estimated 5 percent of the island’s population.

Thanks to climate change, dengue outbreaks may soon become the norm in the southern United States. Experts say that warmer temperatures are causing the virus to incubate faster and allowing its mosquito hosts to expand their range. In 2013, a second dengue outbreak hit central Florida’s so-called Treasure Coast. Unfortunately, it’s not the only zoonotic disease on the move: Studies show that climate change has propelled mosquitoes ferrying West Nile virus and ticks carrying Lyme disease into new areas.

Netarts Bay, Oregon: Ocean Acidification

An estimated 26 percent of all the CO₂ being spewed into the air is being pulling into the world’s oceans. When the gas mingles with seawater, it triggers a chemical reaction known as ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification has been the bane of shellfish growers in the Pacific Northwest for years now. One of its first victims was the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, located along Netarts Bay, about 80 miles west of Portland. The family-run business faced a mass die-off of oysters in 2007 after acidic waters caused the larvae’s shells to melt away. That hatchery has since recovered, thanks to research and careful monitoring, but the rest of the region has lost more than $110 million in shellfish sales. And it’s not just the Pacific Northwest: Earlier this year, a study identified probable danger zones in New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Gulf of Mexico, and another recent paper predicts that Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula may face a similar calamity by 2040.

New Jersey Pinelands: Insect Invasion 

Tucked between New York City and Philadelphia, the New Jersey Pinelands, also known as the Pine Barrens, cover the largest undeveloped tract of land on the mid-Atlantic coast. Known for its wealth of pure groundwater, this 1.1-million-acre forest hosts dozens of beloved species, like Pine Barrens treefrogs, Eastern timber rattlesnakes, and Bald Eagles.

Now, a tiny insect could lead to the downfall of this enormous ecosystem. The southern pine beetle has infiltrated the forest over the last decade, decimating thousands of acres of pine trees by feasting on their tissues. Scientists believe that -8 degrees Fahrenheit is the magic temperature that kills the pests—yet the Pinelands hasn’t seen a night that cold since 1996. Last year, the beetles reached the coastal pine forests of Long Island and experts believe Cape Cod may be next. Climate change is also allowing the closely related mountain pine beetle to wreak havoc out West.

Newtok, Alaska: Intense Erosion

Melting sea ice spells bad news for polar bears—and people. In the tiny village of Newtok, for example, there’s less sea ice to block winter storms from eroding and flooding the landscape. To make matters worse, melting permafrost is causing the ground to sink and change shape. If millions of dollars can’t be raised to move the village, then its 350 residents may became the country’s first climate refugees (that is, if Kivalina, Alaska, which is also losing its ice and landmass, doesn’t beat them to it).

Newtok and Kivalina aren’t the only villages in trouble. In fact, 184 of Alaska’s 213 local villages are at risk from flooding and erosion fueled by climate change, according to a 2003 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Average temperatures throughout the state rose 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past half-century, and in winter, they jumped an astounding 6.3 degrees.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: Longer Pollen Seasons

Gesundheit! Northerners will be on sneeze alert as the season for ragweed allergies—familiar to 25 percent of Americans—extends into the cooler months. The plants produce pollen until the first frost, which thanks to climate change, is arriving later each year.

In Minneapolis, which was crowned as the most ragweed-infested city in the Central United States in 2014, the pollen season expanded by 21 days in just eight years. High pollen counts have major public health implications. The EPA reports that hay fever, which is often triggered by ragweed pollen, accounts for more than 13 million doctor visits every year. Asthma-related deaths might also increase with a longer season.

McAllen, Texas: More Storms

While some states like California are wilting under severe droughts, other places are getting drenched. As the atmosphere heats up, its capacity to hold water increases, leading to more frequent, fiercer storms here on land. McAllen, for example, is experiencing a 700 percent surge in heavy rainstorms since the 1950s—and it’s not just rain. In March, a hailstorm reportedly caused several traffic accidents and a power outage in the city.

McAllen may be ground zero for this trend, but there are many other waterlogged cities. Climate Central reports that 40 of the lower 48 states have seen a recent uptick in mega-rain events, racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in storm damage.