. >> reporter: the cashmans became climate refugees, people driven from their homes by fires, floods and hurricanes of our worsening climate. so >> some people are being impacted by displacement from the events. >> reporter: he studies the effect of climate change on people and cities. >> we think people will be chang changing decisions about where to live, how to live. >> reporter: any examples of that? where that's going on? >> isn't a community in coastal america where we're not seeing some transition away from the coast and moving to higher ground. places like miami, new orleans, san francisco, even in d.c., we see environmental risk from flood shaping property values and where people want to live. >> reporter: of course not everybody has the option of moving. >> it's not easy for folks to just pick up and leave a place. >> reporter: a consultant, researcher and advocate who focuses on climate and racial justice. she says that extreme weather hits communities of color disproportionately hard, yet their residents may be least able to move. >> it's not that folks want to stay in ha