Part of Michigan could become hot as Georgia summer time. This is what it looks like by 2100.

With much of the continent’s fresh water and without the massive wildfires of the west or the hurricanes of the coasts, Michigan is ideally situated to evade the worst of climate change.

But temperatures will rise.

Michigan’s hottest summer days by the year 2100 will feel like parts of the deep South as climate change drives up air temperatures, according to a recent climate science study.

A scorching summer day in Flint at 2100 can be expected to feel like a balmy summer day today in Columbia, South Carolina. Detroit’s summers will feel like Columbus, Georgia.

Saginaw, Lansing, and Grand Rapids will all feel like Memphis, Tennessee.

This is what the US might look like in the next 80 years:

USDA Planting Climate zones, and prediction for heat hazards into the future.

Related: Michigan is a climate haven in a warming world. Will everyone move here?

Data scientists recently analyzed what summertime air temperatures can be expected to be in 78 years for 247 cities across the United States, including eight cities in Michigan.

The “shifting US cities” study found the average expected summer warming by the year 2100 across all 247 cities will be 8 degrees. Analysts found the eight cities they studied in Michigan are expected to increase in temperatures by closer to and even more than 9 degrees.

For many cities, the data project showed summer temperatures by 2100 will on average be more like conditions 437 miles to the south.

The hottest communities will be even hotter. Summers in Houston will feel more like summers in Pakistan. July and August in Phoenix will be like the hottest months in Saudi Arabia.

Comparatively, it gives the Great Lakes appeal.

The study calculated how summer days in Traverse City, Alpena, and Marquette are expected to change. Those cities will compare respectively to summers in Bloomington and Lafayette in Indiana, and Rockford, Illinois.

Related: Fresh water will draw millions, but Michigan lacks systems to harness it

MLive interviewed more than a dozen academics and scientists – one himself a Michigan migrant, and all deem the state a climate haven, regions expected to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change and with capacity to develop infrastructure for growing populations.

Internationally renowned researcher and author Parag Khanna thinks the Great Lakes, and Michigan in particular, will be the best place to live by 2050.

Michigan, however, is not immune from the consequences of global warming, caused by human use of fossil fuels that drive the greenhouse effect. Heavier rainfall. Stronger snowstorms. Changes to plants and wildlife. And people—potentially millions more people.

MLive reporters spent months exploring Michigan as a climate haven and how best to prepare for the expected influx while still housing the current population, keeping down costs, and preserving the green and wild spaces that help make the state so alluring.

Read the stories here:

Michigan is a climate haven in a warming world. Will everyone move here?

Fresh water will draw millions, but Michigan lacks systems to harness it

Michigan’s housing market is in crisis. Climate change could make it worse.

Michigan must build carefully to protect its lush, green spaces

Letter from the Editor: Get ready, Michigan – climate migrants will be seeking ‘a pleasant peninsula’ in droves