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Some Examples of Structural Adaptivity - Part II

Fri, 2014-08-22 19:36 — WDS1200-Columbus

Here are some more examples of how I propose that structural adaptivity could be applied as a leading principle for resilient development in the US over the next 20-50-100 years.  These are intended to support my conviction that structural adaptivity is the only logical approach to advancing our built environment for a rapidly changing, uncertain, unpredictable future.  I am hoping that others will review these concepts and propose their own personal and team-researched applications of the principle.

 

In re-balancing our nation, do so by major watersheds.  I propose that the re-balancing of our nation’s urban development (as I discussed before) should be based on the locations and characteristics of our major watersheds.  All major urban development regions should have a long-term dependable natural source of fresh water. 

 

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Ebola Also Devastates Wild Ape Population

Thu, 2014-08-14 22:45 — Norea

Mrithi, a 20-year-old male western lowland gorilla.

Steve Baragona - August 13, 2014 9:03 AM

One day in 1996, boys from a village in northern Gabon brought home a chimpanzee they found dead in the forest. The villagers butchered it for food.

That act set off an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Years later, on a reporting trip in Gabon, author David Quammen met two men from the village who were there during the outbreak.

At the time Ebola was ravaging their village and their families, they noticed something strange. In the forest nearby, 13 gorillas lay dead.

http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-also-devastates-wild-ape-population/2411749.html

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SOME FACILITATION EXAMPLES FOR STRUCTURAL ADAPTIVITY

Sat, 2014-08-09 11:51 — WDS1200-Columbus

  

I believe that structural adaptivity will become generally accepted in our world even without conscious effort.  As change continues speeding up, and as planners, developers, futurists, risk managers, and many others come to recognize that change is coming at an accelerating rate and that the future is ever more uncertain and unpredictable, they will focus on adaptivity.  However, the longer we wait for people to realize this, the greater the chances are that much harm will occur that should have been avoided or mitigated by the resilience we should have been already building.

 

The facilitation strategies and techniques that I propose are primarily intended to show some logical possibilities.  Hopefully other people will be better able than I am to come up with the best ones. 

 

For now, I will present the full list of the possibilities that I have come up with and then present a discussion of a few of them. <!--break-->

 

My full list:

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How deforestation shares the blame for the Ebola epidemic

Fri, 2014-08-01 22:36 — Elhadj Drame

Like most matters involving an Ebola epidemic, chronicling its first horrifying infection is not an easy endeavor. But even in circumstances in which details are hard to come by, certain similarities have emerged. The first contact often occurs in remote, rural communities where a victim handles an infected animal carcass, and things quickly progress downward from there.

One outbreak in Ivory Coast was sparked when an ethologist touched an infected, dead chimpanzee. In Gabon and the Republic of Congo, scientists linked several outbreaks to extensive deaths of forest chimpanzees and gorillas. And in this most current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa — which has been called “out of control”...

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE OF THIS ARTICLE)

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Green Sports Alliance

Thu, 2014-07-24 18:16 — Kathy Gilbeaux

greensportsalliance.org

The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Alliance members represent over 230 sports teams and venues from 20 different sports leagues.

Since February of 2010, the Alliance has brought together venue operators, sports team executives and environmental scientists to exchange information about better practices and develop solutions to their environmental challenges that are cost-competitive and innovative.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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NHL Commissioner - Gary Bettman Honored by Green Sports Alliance

Thu, 2014-07-24 13:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

NHL Commissioner to receive 2014 Environmental Leadership Award

nhl.com - July 21, 2014

The Green Sports Alliance will honor NHL commissioner Gary Bettman with the 2014 Green Sports Alliance Environmental Leadership Award for his visionary work and guidance in establishing NHL Green and promoting sustainable business practices across the League.

The Green Sports Alliance Environmental Leadership Award is presented to a member of the sports industry who has demonstrated leadership and has provided significant contributions to environmental sustainability. The award is voted on by the Green Sports Alliance Board of Directors, which is comprised of representatives from professional sports organizations, leading environmental nonprofits and other organizations affiliated with the sports industry.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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The Blue Carbon Project

Mon, 2014-07-14 17:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Joe Browder

      

Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving ocean vegetation

thebluecarbonproject.com

What is Blue Carbon?

The problem: The growing emission of carbon dioxide from a wide range of human activities is causing unprecedented changes to the land and sea. Identifying effective, efficient and politically acceptable approaches to reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is one of society’s most pressing goals.

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Trash Concentration in Ocean as Dangerous as Climatic Change

Sun, 2014-06-29 17:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

timesofindia.indiatimes.com - June 17, 2014

SYDNEY: Large concentrations of trash in the oceans, also known as "plastic soups", are as dangerous as climatic change, one of the experts in the field, Mike Moore said, Australian media reported.

These high concentrations of ocean garbage "are currently killing a more animals than climate change", Moore said.

. . . "We are facing a new phenomenon. In fact, it is a new habitat which does not have precendents in the planet's history," Moore added.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Tracking the garbage deserts of the ocean

RESEARCH - Origin, dynamics and evolution of ocean garbage patches from observed surface drifters

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

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Promising solution to plastic pollution

Sun, 2014-06-29 15:50 — Maeryn Obley

Harvard's Wyss Institute - Turning shrimp shells into plastic: Harvard's Wyss Institute comes up with fully degradable bioplastic.

Image:  Harvard's Wyss Institute - Turning shrimp shells into plastic: Harvard's Wyss Institute comes up with fully degradable bioplastic.

news.harvard.edu - May 5th, 2014

For many people, “plastic” is a one-word analog for environmental disaster. It is made from precious petroleum, after all, and once discarded in landfills and oceans, it takes centuries to degrade.

Then came apparent salvation: “bioplastics,” durable substances made from renewable cellulose, a plant-based polysaccharide.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)
(SEE ALSO CBS' COVERAGE ON THIS STORY)

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Deep Underground, Oceans Of Water May Be Trapped In A Crystal Sponge

Tue, 2014-06-24 17:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Earth's surface oceans are quite apparent, even from satellite images of our blue marble, but now scientists have found oceans' worth of water are hidden deep in Earth's mantle, locked up in a mineral called ringwoodite. 
Credit: NASA/NOAA

npr.org - by L. Carol Ritchie - June 15, 2014

. . . Scientists have discovered evidence of a vast reservoir of water hiding up to 400 miles beneath the surface.

The discovery could transform our understanding of how the planet was formed, suggesting that Earth's water may have come from within, rather than from collisions with large, icy comets.

The water is trapped in a blue mineral called ringwoodite that sits in the mantle, a hot, rocky layer between the Earth's crust and outer core.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Dehydration melting at the top of the lower mantle

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE LINKS BELOW)

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