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Conversations about City-building at the intersection of planning and engineering. Michelle Berquist, Rob Muir and Muneef Ahmad reflect on stories behind-the-scenes of "Plangineering" projects.

Jan 2, 2018

The Plangineers talk about ingrained falsehoods and the challenge of living up to our professional duty

Factual review of engineering data is found here relating to the fact that storm intensities have not increased

Rob shared data and engaged specific outlets to expose falsehoods. In this article from Canadian Underwriter, editors consulted Environment and Climate Change Canada to correct the insurance industry Weather Story statement.

Here is an example of CBC reporting with an insurance industry statement on storm frequency that was corrected after consulting Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Rob clarified that his comments on storm intensities don't dispute the narrative on potential future climate change trends. However, observations on storm intensities changing now are inaccurate. 

Here's a link to Rob's paper, "Evidence Based Policy Gaps in Water Resources: Thinking Fast and Slow on Floods and Flow."

Although Rob stated increasing temperatures are undeniable in the podcast, research by the University of Guelph shows that temperatures shifts are related to cold temperatures and not the high temperatures that have been linked to more extreme weather due to higher water vapour holding capacity.

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