My ski buddies — people who have fled the cities already — like to talk about where they’ll live when the Earth is as hot, dried and shriveled as an Arizona rattlesnake’s shed skin.
The general consensus is that high altitude spots are golden. Places like the town I love, Telluride, should stay pleasant, since it’s 8750 feet above sea level. Aspen should be OK — which gives Aspenites another reason to feel self-satisfied.
Anyway, the Guardian newspaper took a serious look at this, saying that sales of ski chalet are off as people worry about snow melt. Ski chalets in Colorado — here, they’re called houses — are off, too, and I’ll bet that a small chunk of that is due not to the downturn on Wall Street but to the upturn in heat.
Is it time to buy land in Montana? Canada? Greenland? Will the Donald Trumps of the 21st century be those who staked out northern land? Is it too late to buy Antarctica? Nobody owns Antarctica, but here’s a bet: if global warming gets bad, somebody will.
– Reilly Capps