General activity, amount of border wars and noble density is and have been higher in the south then in the north of the ec.
The hope of the dev team is that, much like migrations in the real world did, due to the slowness of this event, those affected will have plenty of time to pack up their things and conquer new land - especially if those other realms are weak and inactive and what not...
People forced out of their lands by whatever cause have always been the source of much conflict in the real world. So if you want to keep your realm, one option is to simply shift it away from the incoming ice age.
