climate change posts, articles, and infographics

Beg, Borrow and Share: Leveraging Surplus Capacity in Cities

April 2, 2012 by Waverly de Bruijn Klaw
with 372 views

In an effort to create cities for the future - cities that will work for a new era of inhabitants - we can no longer employ the same prescription. A box store here, a school there, a library over there, all connected by automobile-centric roads just isn't going to cut it. These days, a growing number of people are learning to better... [read more]

Why Local is Bountiful - and Can Change Global Systems

December 19, 2011 by julian dobson
with 143 views

Two events last week cast a spotlight on one of the key issues as we try to navigate our way through recession and economic restructuring towards (we presumably hope) a better future: is there any point in localism when the issues we face are so massive? [read more]

Addressing Climate Change Via Cities – 17 Sustainable Ideas and COP17

December 12, 2011 by This Big City
with 174 views

COP17 drew to a close on Friday, with some kind of international climate change deal agreed on. In this post, Joe Peach – editor of This Big City – and Rashiq Fataar – editor of Future Cape Town – look back over their collaborative series, discussing the best ideas explored and whether the agreement reached at COP17 is enough. Joe Peach... [read more]

Bike Sharing Boom in Cities

November 30, 2011 by Bob Leonard
with 228 views

Bike sharing sure has come a long way since the failed Yellow Bike Project of 1994 in Portland, Oregon. With the launch of New York City’s first system next spring coinciding with similar plans in other cities, it appears that bikes and bike stations may become as widespread and popular as they are in Canada and throughout Europe. [read more]

Can Phoenix Be Greened?

November 8, 2011 by Kaid Benfield
with 177 views

Today’s title is the question somewhat pessimistically posed by NYU professor Andrew Ross in The New York Times. Ross argues that, if so, it will have to be with a broader effort and despite intense political resistance. Over a decade ago, I was doing research for a book about sprawl that became Once There Greenfields, written with my friends and then-colleagues Matt Raimi and Don Chen. I remember coming across a startling statistic: metro Phoenix had become the size of Delaware. And that was 1998. Given the deep, deep hole of carbon emissions, water consumption and pollution that we have dug ourselves into with unchecked sprawl, especially in the Sun Belt, how are we going to get out? Certainly not without much smarter land use, including retrofitting some of the mess already made. [read more]

A UCLA Economist Tells Us How to Adapt to Another Hot, Dry Summer...

September 4, 2011 by Chris Bradford
with 421 views

There are credible predictions that the drought will persist through next summer. That's scary. Lake Travis, one of our two main reservoirs, is 47 feet below full. We are in trouble if this trend line continues for another year: Matthew Kahn, UCLA economist and author of Green Cities, offers helpful advice on... [read more]

Now 1 Billion+ Cars Worldwide; Can the World Handle this Many Wheels?

September 2, 2011 by Bob Leonard
with 310 views

The number of cars on the world’s roads surpassed one billion last year, according to a study that has spurred debate on what the rapidly-growing car population will mean for the world’s economy and environment. According to a report from Ward’s Auto released last week, the global number of cars exceeded 1.015 billion in 2010, jumping from from 980 million the year before. [read more]

Design Competition Seeks New Models That Rethink Water Use in Face of Climate Change

July 20, 2011 by The Dirt ASLA
with 184 views

Drylands Design, a new ideas competition sponsored by the California Architectural Foundation in partnership with the Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University and the AIACC Academy for Emerging Professionals and created in honor of architect William Turnbull, is seeking submissions for “retrofitting the American West.” The goal... [read more]

Proposed California Law Would Require Sea Level Rise Plans

June 20, 2011 by ECPA Urban Planning
with 350 views

The California State Assembly recently passed a bill that, if it becomes law, would require trustees of public lands to create plans for projected sea level rise by July 1, 2013. The bill asserts that these lands serve “the benefit of all the people of California,” and describes numerous economic and social rationales for planning for... [read more]

New Report: Cities Respond to Climate Change

June 20, 2011 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 200 views

The coastal slums in Lagos, Nigeria are especially vulnerable to flooding as a result of climate change. Photo by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Columbia University, in partnership with the City University of New York, published a new report, “Climate Change and Cities,” detailing the risks global cities face as a result of a warming world. The... [read more]

Dengue fever: Coming To A Neighborhood Near You?

June 13, 2011 by Marc Gunther
with 149 views

Meet the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Actually, you don’t want to meet this little lady, who bites for blood that she needs to mature her eggs. The Aedes aegypti spreads dengue fever, which affects about 100 million people a year. Most are in tropical and subtropical regions–South and Central America, southeast Asia and Africa. Dengue... [read more]

C40 Sao Paulo Summit: A Global Partnership to Restore Healthy Cities

June 1, 2011 by TheCityFix - produced by EMBARQ
with 149 views

The C40 Sao Paulo Summit assembles representatives from 40 cities to join forces in tackling climate change and global warming. Photo by Fernando Stankuns. Today marks the first day of the C40 Sao Paulo Summit, an event that brings together Mayors from leading cities around the world in a partnership to reduce carbon emissions and... [read more]