More umbrellas and buildings on stilts: How best to adapt to a warmer, wetter world?

Amid all this talk about preparing for global warming, here's a little factoid you probably didn't know: Boston's Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant was built two feet higher than originally planned to keep it from being flooded by rising sea levels caused by global warming.

It is one of the few examples in the country of a municipality actually adapting to climate change instead of soley focusing efforts on reducing emissions of heat-trapping gas from power plants, factories and cars.

> Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant

But now, Boston and other communities are beginning to think seriously about how to plan for a warmer and wetter world.

Today the non-profit group ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is holding a conference at Northeastern University for officials from Beantown and across New England and Eastern Canada to learn how to prepare for the now inevitable impacts of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Already, New England winter temperatures have risen about four degrees Fahrenheit in the last 30 years and scientists believe some of that warming is attributed to global warming.

Attendees are learning about the somewhat scary projections for public health, such as an increase in disease and pests as climate change takes hold. They are learning about the likelihood of more erosion and storm water surges.

Most of all, they will figure out how to prepare their communities for higher seas, more intense weather and hotter temperatures. Such strategies could include preserving wetlands that would take the brunt of storm surges; capture water better as rainfall becomes more erratic and building structures more resiliently.

One well-known adaptation specialist Paul Kirshen is already doing what he can: He's outfitted his house with extra large gutters to handle more intense rain storms.