Stressors, Uncertainty, Future Needs- March 28th

Seminar Leaders: Devon Meyer, Neily Coulter, Katlyn Bailey, Kurt Anos, Daniel LP, Corey Doucette, Branton Lewskiw, Marco and Heber Garcia

The Future of Roads: No Driving, No Emissions, Nature Reconnected- This article discusses the potentials with the future technology and creating new, more environmentally sustainable and safer roads. The idea is to eliminate human drivers, everything is driven by computers and technology in a pod. By eliminating the human driver, roads would be a lot safer, considering that you no longer have to worry about what the other person will do, if they will fall asleep, etc. Also these new electric roads and pods would be powered by renewable resources such as wind and solar energy. These roads are intended for rural areas and connecting far cities, to prevent the CO2 emissions from driving. Also these roads are intended to help save rome for prime agricultural land and for natural environments for animals, to do this the roads will be above ground in a sort of a high line. Therefore no farm land is cut through, also this saves animals by not making them risk their lives by crossing roads, they can now travel safely beneath the road. There are many components to this design, such as an emergency road line running through the middle, also room for pedestrians, bike lanes, pods that are specific for different load sizes such as buses or semi trucks. Also people are able to rent them and some are made to be taken off the high line and onto the normal road with a battery power that is charged on the high line. This project is not intended for cities because it is very costly, however one day when humans choose to eliminate green house gas emissions all together they could make this the only transportation vehicle.1

2) Example of what Pod cars could look like 

Roads and their major ecological effects- This article discusses the influences that roads have on our environment, from the biodiversity to hydrological effects. Roads act as barriers that tend to cut ecosystems in half, this causes severe problems for the biodiversity that surrounds them. The roads discourages animals from crossing them, this causes small communities of animals to form in sections that are separated by the road. This causes a loss of genetic diversity and can cause a bottle neck effect. These fragmented ecosystems start to diminish more when more roads are added. Also roads are now rated as the number one way that humans kill animals, through road kill. This rates even higher then hunting. The noise from roads also causes animals to stay away from them, which pushes animals even further then their original habitats. Roads also have impacts on the runoff water that drains from them into near by bodies of water. The salts and other chemicals on the roads eventually kill grass and many aquatic animals causes detrimental affects on the marine animals. The pollution of water kills whatever lives inside of it and if this water body is not connected to a stream of some sort the animals have no where to go and perish. To prevent these losses many cities are beginning to built under or over passes on roads to connect the surrounding landscapes and nature. Also some ideas are to close off minimally used roads and remove some to help connect ecosystems. Even temporarily closing roads during mating season for animals can help them spread their genes once more. Closing and eliminating some linkages would permit the reestablishment of a few large patches of natural rainforest," (Forman et al. 1998, 222).3

Seminar Discussion- What are some of the flaws of this proposed Net-way? Could there be possible restrictions? 
-This system is probably very expensive and people are stingy as it is. 
- The statement that there are no accidents seems to good to be true.. If there was a system fail then maybe the accidents are much worse then todays. 
-Is this any different then a subway?
-Instead of focusing on the roads, the cars could be designed differently to be more efficient. 
-The emissions released to create these roads and destroy old ones could have adverse affects on the environment 
-Raising a road is no better because there is still problems with shade underneath, also the infrastructure needed to hold them up will disrupt the land. 

Do you think the problems caused by roads will ever get so severe that a drastic change such as the Net-way system will need to be implemented?
-Roads are not the problem it is the renewable energy. Once the fossil fuels are gone there will need to be a new system in place to support travel and cars. 
-Lifting the roads is to help save the biodiversity, biodiversity should be the first priority and we should be thinking about it no matter what, even before we have to because we have no choice.
-Instead of lifting the entire road, why not lift sections of land and create parks/ overpasses for the animals? It would be less costly and still get biodiversity. 
-Noise is the biggest issue for animals to be near roads so creating quieter cars is also an option. 
-Some animals can figure out migration paths of prey over Overpasses, they can use this as a hunting technique which also lowers biodiversity and creates more issues. 
-Once main reason over passes are built is to protect humans form animal collisions, not directly for the animals, animals should not be an after thought. 

4) Over pass for animal crossing. 

Ist there a more realistic and practical solution to our road problems?
-You can avoid cutting through ecosystems to create new roads and simply place roads on polluted land  and simply make people go more out of their way to get to a destination.
-You could layer the highways 
-Create aircrafts powered by solar energy or create a jet pack. (no roads)
-Cities have created roads that are dug into deep trenches, studies show that animals avoid the deep trench, less road kill.
-You could create tunnels for travel only in areas where migration patterns happen
-Design cities that are more bike friendly and less car friendly, discouraging vehicle use. Give priority to pedestrians. 
-London has created chair lifts as a way of transportation around the city, no roads. 

What suggestions do you have for reconnecting the land to nature?
-Avoid tunnels, they are claustrophobic, scary, more prone to accidents and you see nothing. 
-If the roads are too high you miss out on the nature around you, you feel disconnected.
-These systems could somehow move us backward because we feel more disconnected from nature and therefore do not do anything to help it.
-Need to integrate the nature and the roads together. 
-Like in water parks, they have shark tunnels, create something like this over roads 

Do you think the public would be accepting to this new proposed Net-way system?
-No, they already complain about taxes. 

Personal Reflection- I believe that the Net-way system is a good idea proposal personally. The amount of infrastructure they say needed to support it is minimal because the system is very light weight. This therefore allows for whatever to move underneath it, and who says plants cannot grow in shade? There are plenty of plants that do not need light to grow. Also the idea of creating vehicles that no longer use fossil fuels and therefore do not release greenhouse gases is a much better approach then simply fixing the roads. The roads and cars are a problem together and both need to be made more environmentally friendly. The amount of noise from vehicles is also a huge problem to the surrounding biodiversity, therefore creating cars that do not make noise is huge. However once a car is made that no one can hear coming the amount of car and animal collisions will increase. If you lift the roads above the ground this helps to avoid these accidents. There are a few areas about the article that I am skeptical about however we have managed to create things that no one ever thought possible, who says we cant do it again. 

"Kill all the insects in the world and everything living perishes, kill all the humans in the world and the rest of biodiversity flourishes." --Unknown. 

1) Forman , Richard T., and Daniel Sperling. "The Future of Roads: No Driving, No Emissions, Nature Reconnected." Solutions . 2. no. 5 (2011): 10-23. http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com (accessed March 28, 2013).
2) Demerjian, Dave. Wired.com, "Personal Pod Transport Is Coming." Last modified 2008. Accessed March 28, 2013. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/10/personal-pod-1/.
3) Forman , Richard T., and Lauren E. Alexander. "Roads and their Major Ecological Effects ." Annual Reviews Ecological System . 29. (1998): 207-231. http://www.AnnualReviews.org (accessed March 28, 2013).
4) Gonano, Caity. Americanforests.org, "Safe Crossings for Wildlife." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 28, 2013. http://www.americanforests.org/blog/safe-crossings-for-wildlife/.

Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss-March 21

Seminar Leaders: Caila Sveinson, Caroline Grimes, Jane Hilder, Jesse Ghashti, Jessica Suter, Julieta Cohen, Marla Bigelow, Nichelle Facey

Global Change and the Ecology of Cities- This article discussed the effects urbanization is having on the earth as a whole, such as the changes in land use, the climate, and biodiversity. Today cities are growing to rates never recorded before, which is increasing the already pressing issues of urbanization. The article states that a cities ecological footprint, extends tens to hundreds of times the area that is occupied. This means that cities begin to use and disrupt more of the land surrounding them. There was a study done in attempts to prevent cities from extending beyond their boundaries by building more dense housing within the city. However this encouraged low-density housing sprawl in rural and wild land areas just beyond the city boundaries. Cities are also creating their own microclimates which is a much hotter temperature within the city then the surrounding rural areas, Urban Heat Island Effect. This causes more energy use in summers because of more air conditioning that occurs. These changes that happen at a local scale still impact the entire earths climate causing major shifts in the seasons. Cities have also impacted biodiversity by causing animals to adapt over time to the new temperatures that surround them within the cities. This could cause a major shift in the animals present today to what is seen in the future.1


Urban Growth, Climate Change, and Freshwater Availability- This article discusses the issues with water availability that the world will be faced with in the upcoming decades. As the worlds population growth, more and more people/cities are facing water shortages. By the yeah 2050, there is expected to be an additional 3 billion urban people. It is estimated that, "≈100 million more urbanites will live under perennial shortage under climate change conditions than under current climate." (McDonald et al. 2011,6313) Also more cities will rely on transporting water for greater distances in order to support the needs of the people. Cities will need to invest in water storage techniques, which will still lead to water shortage for a few months a year in different seasons. The water shortage not only affects the people but it also will affect the fish that rely on this water for a habitat. The water storage will decrease biodiversity in the aquatic environments drastically. The article said that there will be ways to solve the water shortage problems, however it will be costly and no one likes to spend money.2


Chicago Fights Extreme Urban Heat With Greener Ideas (Video)- In 1995 Chicago went through a heat wave that caused power shortage for a few days. The temperature got so hot, it caused 700 deaths throughout the city. The Heat Island Effect is when a cities internal temperature is much higher then the surrounding rural temperatures. This difference was 11 degrees in Phoenix and with its surrounding towns. This generally happens because the cement absorbs the heat during the day and continues to release it through out the night. In order to prevent this happening again, Chicago is making drastic changes to the entire cities infrastructure. Chicago is making laws that any new buildings that are built that require public funding are to be LEED certified, if they are built with a green roof then the project is permitted faster, which means money in the pocket faster. Chicago is also creating small changes such as making permeable cement, it allows water to pass through and be absorbed into the soil. This is the natural process that occurs, which also cools the air around it when this water evaporates. Chicago is doing tests with reflective cement and seeing how much heat is reflected. Also on the sides of the streets the water is being caught and used to water plants instead of over filling sewage. Plants are also a great way to reduce heat, they capture it and the air around them is cooler, which saves money with green roofs. Also it absorbs water from rain, therefore not over filling sewage systems.3

4) Heat related deaths 

5) Permeable Cement- Use this in cities?

Seminar Discussion- Should Design and Ecology become synonymous? 
-Designers, unless they take the entire ecology schooling, could never reach the same point in knowledge as ecologists, therefore they should work collaboratively with a ecologist specialist. 
-The two specialists should communicate regularly about projects to get the best of both worlds. 
-In the future they will by default have a much closer relationship and be more commonly be working together, but they should not be made into the same profession.
-Possibly in the future for the university there are two Ecology and Design courses leading more in depth on ecology.
-Is this not a landscape architect?
-In the future possibly the focus will steer away from buildings and be more focused on the surrounding landscape and preserving it. 
-Keep it the way it is with a specialist in both trades is the best thing because they both know in depth everything about their specialty and they can work together to create the best design. 
-People need to collaborate more. 
-Possibly in the future the ecologist and engineer will be more important than the architect and the architect will fade away?
-There is potential value in a position of putting the 2 specialities together.
-There are also multiple types of ecologists that specialize in different fields, therefore teaching an architect everything may not be a good idea, but simply working with the ecologist that specializes in the area needed may be the best route.

Do you think if urban centres were dispersed across the land, the impact we have upon the earth would be reduced?
-The further you spread, the more transportation you will need to accommodate the people. which will in turn increase the amount of pollutants released causing more green house gases. 
-To lessen the affects of cities, design the landscape and city better to accommodate green space and be more environmentally friendly and less harsh. 
-If everyone is dispersed in smaller cities, there will be less industries and less job opportunities. 
-There will always be the one bigger city. People will always move to preferred areas causing the need of a city to expand. 

What are some of the impacts that climate change can have on the hydrologic cycle? 
-The water can dry out making the already dry areas drier. Increased temperature melts polar caps causing less heat to be reflected and also melts the ice caps causing raised sea levels. The higher sea level will also cause flooding which can pollute the ground water that many countries rely on for drinking water. 

Suggest a method for providing water for a city, while protecting native fish species.
-Use the water we have wisely, you do not need clean water for flushing your toilet. Also home recycling water systems to reuse the water on site for another purpose. 
-LEED certified buildings collect storm water however they do not utilize it for fish, could start to?

Which factor is expected to have a more certain effect on water storage? Urban growth or climate change?
Urban Growth. 

Personal Reflection- I believe more emphasis needs to be placed on protecting biodiversity and creating new ways right now that will help us survive in the future climate, which is believed to be a lot warmer. The loss of biodiversity could be detrimental to all ecosystems on earth, however not many people know about it. Different species help support the ecosystems they live in and vice versa, if the species disappear, then the entire ecosystems they live in will also disappear. We are so concerned with preserving nature but if we don't also preserve the biodiversity that inhabits it, then everything we do will have not effect and it will disappear anyway. The climate is changing we all know this, this is the time to become creative and invent new ways to help adapt not only humans but also animals to the new climate we will be faced with. It may be expensive and a lot of people will not be happy about it but they will just have to suck it up and get over it if they want to keep living on earth the way we do. 

1) Grimm , Nacy B., Stanley H. Faeth, Nancy E. Golubiewski, Charles L. Redman, Jianguo Wu, Xuemei Bai, and John M. Briggs. "Global Change and the Ecology of Cities ." Science AAAS. 319. (2008): 756-760. DOI: 10.1126/science.1150195 (accessed March 20, 2013).
2) McDonald, Robert I., Pamela Green , Deborah Balk , Balas M. Fekete, Carmen Revenga, Megan Todd, and Mark Montgomery. "Urban Growth, Climate Change, and Freshwater Availability ." PNAS. 108. no. 15 (2011): 6312-6317. www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. 1073/pnas.1011615108/-/DCSupplemental. (accessed March 20, 2013).
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukGN4PyeNoU
4) Galvin , Thomas. Tthomasgalvin.blogspot.ca, "FORGOTTEN NATIONAL TRAGEDY: BILL CLINTON AND 1,000 DEATHS IN THE "CHICAGO HEAT WAVE" OF 1995 ." Last modified 2005. Accessed March 21, 2013. http://thomasgalvin.blogspot.ca/2005_09_08_archive.html.
5) Unknown, . Master Gardeners, "Permeable Pavement Fact Sheet Information for Howard County, Maryland Homeowners." Last modified Unknown . Accessed March 21, 2013. http://mastergardener.umd.edu/local/howard/files/baywise files/PermeablePavingHowardCountyMasterGardeners10_5_11 Final.pdf.