Even seemingly benign land uses may contribute to global climate change, perhaps more than the carbon dioxide, the leading suspect.
"Do massive asphalt and concrete 'urban heat islands' like Houston or Atlanta really help ratchet up the global thermostat? What about huge tracts of farmland like those that span the Midwest?... [A] growing number of atmospheric scientists taking a hard look at parking lots? Because, they say, land-use changes have at least as much, and perhaps even greater, impact on climate change than CO2. It's a radical idea that has heated up the scientific community and is prompting a wider look at the forces behind climate change. The effect on public policy could be enormous."
Thanks to Dan Houston
Read the full story: A parking lot effect?
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
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Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
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Mass. votes against statewide minimum lot size for single-family homes
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Maryland’s $15 billion bridge project gains key approval
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‘No clear next steps’ for Chicago's permanent festival grounds
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority