Portland will soon be one of the nation’s hottest hometowns, says the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

It’s not because the local music scene is expected to heat up, however. It’s because Portland will be, literally, one of the cooler places to live in about 40 years, the magazine says.

The Oct. 18 issue is the rock-n-roll digest’s annual “Hot Issue,” a collection of picks that includes hot bands, hot actors and even hot drag act. One list – “Hot Land Grab” – focuses on global warming and names what are predicted to be the six U.S. most liveable cities in 2050. Our fair city is number three.

“Low-lying portions of downtown Portland could get hit by rising sea levels, but most of the city is on higher ground. So when those nor’easters blow through (and get even nastier), it won’t be as vulnerable to storm surges as nearby Boston. Ocean access and offshore breezes will temper heat waves, which will be less brutal here than in more southern and inland cities.”

The others cities? Seattle and the other Portland on the west coast, and Manchester, N.H., Buffalo, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt., in the northeast.

Now, maybe Rolling Stone isn’t the best source for scientific projections, or even real estate advice. (C’mon, they put Kid Rock on the cover of the “Hot Issue.”)

But the idea that Maine would be somewhat of a haven in a warming world isn’t new or totally off the wall. Down to Earth suggested as much in a post last May based on a NASA map of the future climate.

“Maine, according to the map, could become one of the few places in the eastern half of the U.S. where the average summer temperature in 2085 is not expected to exceed 90 degrees.”

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