[em16hb (OP)]

From what I've found online (which of course could be completely inaccurate and if so I would appreciate your correction) it seems like the likely general outcome would be the polar regions expanding and migration of the human population towards the equator.

Would this be because the poles have become frozen dead zones from periods of no sunlight? Or would the nightless summers eventually turn the polar regions into deserts given that the extreme summers could dry them out?

Would the region near the equator become temperate or would it stay tropical while the temperate regions of the earth simply disappear?

Disclaiming again, I completely recognize that everything I've speculated above could be way-way off which is why I've come here to ask people smarter than myself.

Thank you!

[Kryptid]

I would expect seasonal swings of temperature to become more extreme for any one location: Winters would be colder while Summers would be hotter. I would expect the same to be true of the poles as well. In the Winter, I would expect polar ice sheets to grow beyond what they are now while shrinking to a larger extent in the Summer. The equator would experience more extremes in temperature as well, but it would probably still be the most stable area on Earth.

Whether the average ice coverage around the poles throughout the year would increase or not, I don't know. I'm not an expert on the subject, but climate is a very sensitive thing and unexpected results can come from even small tweaks to it.

[evan_au]

would the nightless summers eventually turn the polar regions into deserts?

Technically, the South Pole is already a desert (I would guess that the same is true of the North Pole).

The definition of a desert is a region which receives an annual average of < 10 inches of precipitation (rainfall).
Due to the very low temperatures at the Poles, there is very little evaporation, and very little moisture in the air, and very little rainfall (which would mostly be in the form of snow or hail, when it does occur).

So at the South Pole you can have a layer of ice and snow which is over 1km thick, but it is still a desert.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert#Physical_geography

[Bill S]

Hi em16hb, welcome.

Or would the nightless summers eventually turn the polar regions into deserts given that the extreme summers could dry them out?

Were you thinking that the summers would involve not only melting, but extensive evaporation, and that the moisture would migrate away from the polar regions? 

I've come here to ask people smarter than myself.

From experience, I’d say you have a good chance of finding people who know more than you do about specific subjects, but smarter: who knows?

[Janus]

It would have some profound effects on climate, as we would no longer have any temperate zones. Everything would either be in the tropics or in an Arctic or Antarctic region.  (the Tropics are presently anything within ~23.4 degrees of the Equator ( between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn), and the Arctic and Antarctic regions are within 23.4 degrees of the Poles.  So at a 45 degree axial tilt, the tropic of Cancer and Arctic circle would be one in the same, while the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic circle would be one and the same. (This would put where I presently live in the Arctic, but by driving a half-hour or so South I would reach the Tropics.)

[evan_au]

The Tropics are reqions of the Earth which have a fairly uniform length of day throughout the year, and fairly uniform temperatures. There is no "Summer" or "Winter" as such - but there is often a "Wet" and a "Dry" season. This is all due to the fact that the Sun is never far from overhead throughout the year.

For convenience, the tropics are defined as places where the Sun is directly overhead at some time of the year.

If the Earth's axial tilt increased to 45 degrees, the length of day would change noticeably, and temperatures would vary significantly throughout the year, even for someone living directly on the equator (in fact, such a person would have 2 summers and 2 winters every year!).

Our current concept of "The Tropics" would be obsolete.