Comments on: Effective policies re global warming, climate change, urban design, sustainability and landscape architecture

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:20:41 +0000

Yes. No doubt! I suppose almost all of Europe is more convinced of the idea of global freezing than global warming at the present point in time?

Climate science is quite complicated. Do you suppose anthropogenic global warming might be interacting with the natural climate cycle to produce the weather we are experiencing?
[ http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/climate_change/global_warming_basics/global_warming_definition.html ]

“A temperature rise as fast as the one we have seen over the last 30 years has never happened before, as far as scientists can ascertain. Moreover, normally the Earth should now be in a cool-down-period, according to natural effects like solar cycles and volcano activity, not in a heating-up phase.”

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:31:18 +0000

London has been a little warmer than the surrounding country recently – and this has been welcome!

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:25:52 +0000

I would like to add to your list (above) reducing the ‘heat island effect’ where possible. Have been doing some interesting reading on global warming. CFC’s in particular aerosols are more efficient heat absorbers than carbon.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:33:18 +0000

The quote is from an impeccable source: Saudi Arabia’s former oil minister and sage, Sheik Yamani, and the fact that Saudia Arabia is doing everything it can to persuade the world that Global Warming is not happening may be an indicator that they agree with his predictions about peak oil. The Saudis are worried about oil demand falling and their country returning to dust. I think it is a case of ‘when, not if’. Those great cities being lost in the sands could be a beautiful sight, like David Robert’s paintings of Egypt. http://www.museum-tours.com/museum/roberts/wall10/robert10.htm I hope I live long enough to see it happen.

By: Christine

Christine — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:12:55 +0000

Even peak oil is complicated![ http://peakoil.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=53653 ]
I just read somewhere online the following quoteable quote: ‘The Stone Age didn’t end because they ran out of stones. The Oil Age won’t end because they run out of oil.’

It seems that other issues (most probably economic and political) will become more highly relevant before oil supplies dwindle.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 07:11:08 +0000

I don’t know enough about company law for this – but the idea is very enterprising.
Another possible solution would have been to let Saddam Hussein take control of all Middle East oil: I think he would have found a way of raising prices and limiting supplies.

By: Whitney Hedges

Whitney Hedges — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:08:21 +0000

My Idea for disruption of major oil companies is to for an alliance online, were individuals can buy a single share in a named public oil company such as Exxon. then simply buy the voting majority of the oil giant, and change policies in favour of green tech. not necessarily running the company into the ground but changing the direction of its resources, so as to be motivated by the communities needs and our environment rather than for shareholder greed and executive greed…….Naive I know but..

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:52:06 +0000

We are fortunate that nothing was decided at Copenhagen, because the measures being discussed were worthless.
I can’t think how to bring it about, but what the world needs is a major disruption in oil supplies. A real crisis would soon bring about the necessary research into new technologies and we could easily reduce our energy consumption in the short term by stopping foreign holidays, air conditioning, central heating and the sale of bottled and canned beverages.

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:10:04 +0000

I thought about getting into fish portraits myself…[ http://wolcotthenry.com/fish_port/gallery1.htm ]However my underwater skills are still being developed [ http://travelspots.mayacreative.com/barrier-reef-the-second-largest-coral-reef-in-the-world/ ].

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:35:51 +0000

I think the combination of words with images is a key aspect of landscape and garden design. But they have to be linked! Oozing words and oozing images is of little use without the linkage.

PS I am a little proud of the marsupial pics I took in 2009.