[GWSG] Strategic retreat; land for retreat; yearly 1% floods; O not threatened in Amazon; rattled oligarchs; wind power muscular

[Tilley, Al]

1. Retreat from areas threatened by flood, fire, or drought need not be a rout. Strategic retreat, if carefully organized, can lead to improved lives. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-case-retreat-climate.html
[https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2019/thecaseforre.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-case-retreat-climate.html>
The case for retreat in the battle against climate change<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-case-retreat-climate.html>
phys.org
A new paper led by a A.R. Siders of the University of Delaware states that communities should plan for retreat in some cases from areas that are flood- or fire- or hurricane-prone and adjust their ...
The full Science article raises a great many significant issues. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6455/761
[https://science.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/highwire/sci/365/6455.cover-source.gif]<https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6455/761>
The case for strategic and managed climate retreat | Science<https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6455/761>
science.sciencemag.org
Faced with global warming, rising sea levels, and the climate-related extremes they intensify, the question is no longer whether some communities will retreat—moving people and assets out of harm's way—but why, where, when, and how they will retreat. To the extent that retreat is already happening, it is typically ad hoc and focused on risk reduction in isolation from broader societal goals.



2. Public housing can be a way to free communities from destructive pressures. Perhaps the right to land is on a par with the right to air and water. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-cleaner-housing-access-barrier-simpler.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
[https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/2019/accesstoland.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-cleaner-housing-access-barrier-simpler.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter>
Cleaner living through public housing: Access to land is a barrier to simpler, sustainable living - phys.org<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-cleaner-housing-access-barrier-simpler.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter>
phys.org
Cleaner living through public housing: Access to land is a barrier to simpler, sustainable living. by Alex Baumann And Samuel Alexander, The Conversation

Though the article does not address the issue overtly, much land on high ground which would be suitable for resettlement has been acquired by those who have benefited from recent economic growth. They will naturally expect a high price for land which will be in sudden demand. The financial worth of most people, if they have any, is tied up in their homes.  Few of the relocated will have much wealth intact because their property will be devalued. Public resources will not imaginably allow the purchase of their threatened homes at anything like their previous value. Many of the relocated will be destitute. We should prepare to exercise public domain, and then to engage in a massive public housing project, if we are to avoid a destabilizing collision.

3. 1% floods are those which occur once in 100 years, and are typically defined and included in emergency planning. A study from Princeton indicates that floods of that magnitude are now likely to occur once a year in the US Northeast, and once in 30 years in the Southeast and Gulf states. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-year-years.html
[https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2019/100yearflood.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-year-years.html>
'100-year' floods will happen every 1 to 30 years, according to new flood maps - phys.org<https://phys.org/news/2019-08-year-years.html>
phys.org
A 100-year flood is supposed to be just that: a flood that occurs once every 100 years, or a flood that has a one-percent chance of happening every year.


4. The Amazonian fires are an ecological disaster but not a threat to our oxygen supply. https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/amazon-emergency-but-pump-the-brake-on-the-oxygen-story/
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.01BY2om%2bc955wQ%2b567nUng&pid=Api]<https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/amazon-emergency-but-pump-the-brake-on-the-oxygen-story/>
Amazon Emergency: But Pump the Brake on the “20 percent of our Oxygen” Story<https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/amazon-emergency-but-pump-the-brake-on-the-oxygen-story/>
climatecrocks.com
The running story line, repeated in the CNN piece above, is that “the Amazon produces 20 percent of the world’s oxygen”. Nope, that’s wrong – it’s an emergency a…


5. The public alarm at fires in Siberia and the Amazon have the autocrats of Russia and Brazil taking environmentally conscious actions at odds with their previous postures. https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/oligarchs-rattled-by-climate-crisis/
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.QOUFk5wKg1ORjj4Vuf8oGw&pid=Api]<https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/oligarchs-rattled-by-climate-crisis/>
Oligarchs Rattled by Climate Crisis?<https://climatecrocks.com/2019/08/23/oligarchs-rattled-by-climate-crisis/>
climatecrocks.com
New York Times: RIO DE JANEIRO — As an ecological disaster in the Amazon escalated into a global political crisis, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, took the rare step on Friday of mobilizing the…


6. US wind power is becoming cheaper than natural gas. Offshore wind is growing rapidly and the opportunities for deployment are great. Small wind turbines, often used to charge batteries, are a growing part of distributed wind power—that generated close to the point of use. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/24/way-to-dump-all-the-good-news-about-wind-power-on-a-friday-afternoon-doe/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=432e8587e6-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-432e8587e6-331994013
[https://cleantechnica.com/files/2019/08/wind-power-USA.png]<https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/24/way-to-dump-all-the-good-news-about-wind-power-on-a-friday-afternoon-doe/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=432e8587e6-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-432e8587e6-331994013>
Way To Dump All The Good News About Wind Power On A Friday Afternoon, DOE - cleantechnica.com<https://cleantechnica.com/2019/08/24/way-to-dump-all-the-good-news-about-wind-power-on-a-friday-afternoon-doe/?utm_source=CleanTechnica+News&utm_campaign=432e8587e6-Daily+Email+CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-432e8587e6-331994013>
cleantechnica.com
Dumping All The Good News About US Wind Power. So what’s with the Friday news dump? After all, releasing major news on a Friday afternoon is a classic PR strategy for burying bad news, and the ...


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