Climate Crossroads: Action and Reckoning in the American South

How communities across the US South are fighting to save their home from the effects of environmental change

Rising seas, extreme heat, fragile infrastructure, and longstanding social inequities make the American South particularly susceptible to the hazards of climate change and weather events. Climate Crossroads reveals how environmental factors are reshaping the South’s landscape, politics, and identity—and how the region’s history magnifies every storm, flood, and heatwave. This book asks a pressing question about the future of the region: How can communities facing the greatest climate risks fight to protect their home?

Drawing from on-the-ground investigations from Texas to Florida and the Carolinas, John Dunn highlights the South’s climate challenges, including threatened coastlines, accelerated population growth in cities struggling to adapt, and marginalized communities bearing some of the greatest environmental burdens. Dunn introduces the variety of groups working toward climate justice, including grassroots activists organizing to reduce their carbon footprint; local governments exploring resilience plans and rethinking land use and zoning; and federal legislators promoting national initiatives like the Green New Deal. He also profiles powerful counterforces working to block reform.

This book offers a sweeping look at how Southerners are reckoning with both a rapidly changing climate and the social and racial legacies that make its impacts so severe. It shows why the South stands at a decisive turning point—and why its choices about justice, adaptation, and resilience will shape America’s trajectory for decades to come. Despite ongoing headwinds, Climate Crossroads affirms that community-based activism gives reason for hope.