[GWSG] Superfund submergence; restored drainage; climate gentry; wet bulb futures; debate tactics; New Year's wishes

[Tilley, Al]

1. High on our list of to-dos must be cleaning up coastal superfund pollution sites before they submerge. The Trump administration is interfering with progress on this task too. http://www.postregister.com/articles/news-depth/2017/12/25/ap-finds-climate-change-risk-327-toxic-superfund-sites#<http://www.postregister.com/articles/news-depth/2017/12/25/ap-finds-climate-change-risk-327-toxic-superfund-sites>



2. China is experimenting with restored natural drainage in a small section of Shanghai. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/28/chinas-sponge-cities-are-turning-streets-green-to-combat-flooding

What China is calling sponge cities is called the Sustainable Development System in the UK and Low Impact Development in the US. Through the use of features such as green roofs, swales, rain gardens, permeable road and parking surfaces, and restored landscape contours, the natural ability of a region to absorb and purify rainwater is restored so that the region does not contribute runoff, with its potential for floods, to neighboring regions. Besides the benefit to drainage, such a system creates a pleasant environment whether in urban or rural settings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-impact_development_(U.S._and_Canada)



3. Areas with low exposure to climate risks such as sea level rise and wildfires will gain in value as those risks increase. The areas will attract new residents from at-risk neighborhoods who will displace lower income residents in a process of climate gentrification. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-gentrification-home-values-rising-sea-level/?utm_source=Daily+Climate&utm_campaign=2c0931e2ec-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9c8bdfd977-2c0931e2ec-99360421



4. When the wet bulb temperature hits 35 C, people can no longer cool themselves by sweating and will not survive. As wet bulb temperatures approach 32 C people have trouble carrying out normal activities. In the coming decades habitability is threatened in regions of India, Africa, South America, China, and the SE US. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/22/humidity-may-prove-breaking-point-for-some-areas-as-temperatures-rise-says-study/



5. Robert Dee no longer engages in debates with climate deniers and fossil fuel shills when he speaks in public. Few speakers do, but his tactics struck me as particularly likely to succeed. https://cleantechnica.com/2017/12/30/dont-debate-climate-change/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29 My experience is that attempts by deniers and the propagandized to disrupt presentations are rare, but it does happen. I have sometimes been confronted by the Gish Gallop, in which the person spouts a fast stream of mingled misrepresentations and partial truths. That's hard to counter, especially where time is short as on a radio show. I generally describe their strategy to the audience and pass on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop   I would like to hear accounts from list members of successful techniques, as many of us find ourselves speaking on climate and could use the advice.



6. May 2018 be the year we glimpse the approach of declining emissions, see declining support among nations and investors for fossil fuels, and envision more clearly the sort of world we want to inhabit.?

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