Comments on: What can landscape and urban designers to to limit climate change and global warming?

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 02:41:55 +0000

Well yes there are arguments for advocating for warming and arguments for advocating for cooling. The point of adaptation to climate change is to be able to adjust to either situation, particularly since global warming is typified by extremes of weather both hot and cold.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 08:36:13 +0000

As with hippos, not all that looks cute is cute.
I am looking forward to a little global warming in Scotland and hope to plant olives and vines so as to be ready.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 06:42:57 +0000

Scientist have discovered the remains of woolly Mammoths from 10,500 to 6,500 years ago in Alaska (meaning they lived on earth closer to our time than previously thought).

They are rather cute so a bit of ice in Scotland wouldn’t be all bad.
[ http://www.orprunners.com/images/woolly-mammoth-folkmanis-hand-puppet-f1040.jpg ]

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:14:43 +0000

I am sure humans are contributing to climate change – and if a new ice age were to begin then humans might set their minds to thinking how they can achieve more of it. Life in Scotland would be difficult if there were ever again to be a 500m thick layer of ice.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:48:08 +0000

In the few nations with alpine environments I have researched there is evidence of climatic warming in the increased formation of warmer climate features ie. glacial lakes. Whether these lakes are forming because of natural or human induced climate change or a combination of the two is more difficult to say.

There is also (incidential) evidence that when acid rain causing sulphate emissions were reduced from coal fired power stations across the US and Europe there was measurable warming as a result. Thus warming of the climate can be directly linked to coal fired power stations.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:01:16 +0000

I agree with Poppy’s scepticism and Christine’s pragmatism: it is good to have politicians supporting an argument for ‘ensuring a healthy environment’. If the policy changes have no significant affect on climate change they are still worth doing for other reasons.
Re my scepticism, I can never forget that when the British Isles were re-populated after the last Ice Age the sea level was 50m lower than it is today. If human action raises the level another 1m in the next 10,000 years there could well be other causes of other changes which make this relatively insignificant.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 05:37:22 +0000

Hi Poppy, climate change has two components natural and anthropogenic (human-induced).

There is currently uncertainty as to the extent of the influence of the two components on our climate system. However, mitigation efforts are directed at our ability to reduce human impacts on climate even though we may not know the full extent of the consequences of human impacts.

Many of these action such as reducing pollution, ensuring a healthy environment and achieving sustainability (social, economic and environmental) are worth doing regardless of climate change.

Often climate change will merely impact on the parametres of an existing problem, ie forecasting the future frequency and impact of extreme weather events, determining the availability of water resources, addressing the problem of species decline and extinction etc.

By: Poppy

Poppy — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 04:35:59 +0000

From wiki :”Climate change is a long-term change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years.” It is good and necessary to think about the role of landscape architects to “mitigate” climate change,but I always have a personal view that landscape architects can not “limit” climate change,or nobody is able to limit it,because it is a natural phenomena.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:25:20 +0000

I am reminded of a previous blog post on Easter Island - and suspect we will only appreciate them when they have gone. I read recently that China has used such large quantities of pesticide in some areas that all the bees have been killed and the peasants must know polinate their fruit trees by hand.

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 03:44:48 +0000

I wonder when we will start to understand that we are not the only living thing on the planet? And that animals, even the tiny seemingly inconsequential ones, are not just good for eating?
[ http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/6/638.full ]

If you rarely see nature in your day to day life you will not even consider it in your designs! (Even when eating duck confit at your favourite restaurant.)
[ http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1675/1524-4695(2008)31%5B62:LEOWDI%5D2.0.CO%3B2 ]