I gave up some time ago on the idea that focusing on adaption was just a means of weaseling out of necessary measures to mitigate climate change. As the extraordinary becomes commonplace, it’s evident that we’ve ignored the externalities of carbon longer than was prudent.
It’s thus great to see Boston’s Mayor Walsh release Resilient Boston Harbor. Even for those who follow these issues for a living (and I have a personal stake, since my wife and I are about to move to Fort Point Channel, ground zero for climate change flooding impacts in Boston), what’s really amazing is the granularity of both the analysis and the recommendations.
If you want to understand just how granular the analysis must be in order to develop specific recommendations, you might take a look at this figure from the full Climate Ready South Boston report. 
Don’t just skim the Executive Summary on this one.
I find this work both inspiring and discouraging. There is so much to do. Among other tasks, environmental lawyers have to figure out how to make these recommendations feasible in light of existing environmental regulations that would actually prevent implementation of some of the recommended adaptation measures.
I had thought of closing with a nice climate-inspired haiku. Instead, I think I’ll leave you with this:
It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.
