Policies meant to cool cities down are making people move out

New research finds that policies designed to reduce heat in cities have opposite effects on migration. Policies that help people adapt to heat, like cooling centers, keep people from leaving. Policies that try to mitigate heat, like planting trees, make people move away.

Governments are spending money on heat policies, but they might be getting unintended results. If a city wants to keep its residents, it needs to understand which policies actually work. This paper suggests that some common approaches to fighting climate change might actually push people out of their homes.