To improve infrastructure and prepare for climate change, the U.S. needs to think ‘megaregionally.’
The challenges posed by climate change can often seem so local. A wildfire torches Northern California, a storm surge batters New York Harbor, a king tide floods a Miami neighborhood. But while these local impacts are devastating, they rarely stand alone. A growing swath of the American West is now facing a perennially horrendous wildfire season. Extreme storms thrash coastal communities around the world. Rising sea levels are as big a challenge in Jakarta as in Southern Florida. The impacts may seem local, but the problems are global.