We need to talk about both food and ecosystem security. Compared to annual grains, perennial grains have:
longer growing seasons deeper roots (10 to 12 feet down) hold down topsoil reduce erosion build soil sequester carbon from the air reduce farm equipment maintenance requirements use less herbicide Will perennial grains really be the answer
but better known by locals as The Gherkin--directs the flow of winds from street level and open windows along its spiral body,
and our built environment--and by extension, the pollution produced by manufacturing the materials needed to make
Experts at the United nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say the way we build and retrofit our cities,
humans have always been looking to other organisms to inform them about their environment, she said.
In the deserts of the American Southwest, native people studied how thick the mud walls of prairie dog chambers were to determine the best way to stay cool in that environment.
where commercial rooftops and old industrial infrastructure are repurposed into a living part of the built environment.
The tools of synthetic biology are galvanizing the development of new forms of architecture that respond to environmental change by incorporating the dynamic properties of living systems, such as growth, repair, sensitivity and replication,
Photo courtesy 30 St mary Axe More from the Built Environment issue: Restoring Honor Rethinking the row home The future of LEED The buildings are alive Video:
From fiscal years 2006 to 2010, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) reported more than a doubling of National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) member agencies'funding for nanotechnology environmental
The only policy answer to climate change is to stifle carbon emissions, without building a clean energy substitute for coal.
what you and your neighbors can do with your own resources. Solutions that are already unfolding,
That's why improving the efficiency of our built environment, which should be our number one national priority
This tiny little wind-powered oasis, the only gas station along a 100-mile stretch of old Route 66 in the Mojave desert of California, sits next to an active freight rail line.
As long as the wind blows across the Mojave, these rugged individuals can pump a little ground water,
however, can't blame its vacant buildings and abandoned houses on the weather. Instead, it has become a favorite proxy for discussions about America as a whole:
Is it sustainable to fly to Copenhagen for the climate change conference? Evan Kopelson took the plunge in November to be sustainable.
to his Beverly hills lifestyle to live in a yoga pod in a communal environment. The Sustainability Journey is a window into Evan s world.
How sustainable is it to fly by airplane to Copenhagen, Denmark for the United nations conference on climate change?
The 15th Conference of the Parties of the United nations Frameworks Conventions on Climate Change will take place from Dec 7 to 18.
Deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of all greenhouse gas pollution. Electric cars can save the economy
and deforestation continues at unprecedented rates. I m focused on Copenhagen because there is information there that needs to be brought back to the people.
both by purchasing carbon offsets and by raising awareness about climate change issues. I hope my personal story of giving up luxury to live sustainably in community,
A combination of colonial history and tropical climate helped create Hong kong s unique stone-wall trees.
The Tokyo Sky Treethe completion of the world's tallest tower, the Tokyo Sky Tree, Japan, was celebrated in an elaborate ceremony on Friday.
including those who worked on the construction of the tower and the president of Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co,
At an impressive 634 meters tall, the Tokyo Sky Tree's purpose is to act as a digital broadcaster,
Construction of the Sky Tree began in 2008, and it is now ready to begin service four years later as a digital terrestrial broadcaster for both Tokyo and the surrounding region, Kanto.
the Tokyo Sky Tree is constructed on a triangular base, fortified with'tripod'units for additional stability.
Frankenfood the very term is evidence that the communications environment around genetically modified foods (GMOS) is charged highly emotionally.
This is the problem with complex organisms and complex ecosystems. There s always going to be some level of contamination and risk.
but at what environmental cost? Ford'S f-150 pickup truck is the best-selling vehicle in the United states it has been for 32 years.
as people are able to manage consumption of resources (electricity, water, food, even bandwidth) in ways that place less of a burden on the environment while saving households money.
Donald G. Barnes, former director of the Science Advisory board at U s. Environmental protection agency, says there is a bevy of obstacles that still need to be overcome:
The company is hoping to benefit from the partnership with USC by developing a new ecosystem of media and entertainment according to head of gaming and transmedia at Orange, Jean-Fran ois Rodriguez.
and Andrea Petrini, a Lyon-based food writer, Cook It Raw got its start in Copenhagen in 2009, the year of the United nations climate summit.
innovation, collaboration, tradition, respect for the environment. An expanded social media presence included a Twitter feed and a Tumblr account.
The weather was perfect as a mix of local and international chefs manned 20 outdoor stands
and released into the environment, are used by moths for finding mates. Synthetic pheromones--which can disrupt pheromone communication in insect pests--have been used widely by farmers for decades,
Their next goal is to develop GM plants that can release these pheromones into the environment.
losses of flora, fauna and ocean's ecosystems will impact food supply and the livelihood of millions who depend on these resources.
Ashok Khosla, head of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's oldest environmental network.
But governments and ecosystems have not taken any action seriously. To highlight his point, Khosla gave the example of the endangered (Atlantic) Bluefin tuna.
Asia and South america, found that even these final refuges of threatened species are vulnerable to human encroachment and environmental stresses.
Latha Jishnu, the biodiversity expert at India's top environmental magazine Down to Earth, said that parties were still trying to figure out how much money was needed,
and that funding for protecting the marine ecosystem was top priority. Jishnu said that CBD parties had been asked to submit suggestions on innovative ways of funding biodiversity
Indian economist Pavan Sukhdev has led the global study on The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity.
the environment ministry said in a statement. It is expected that the ABS Protocol, which is a key missing pillar of the CBD,
According to a new UN report, cities around the world are not doing enough in the fight against climate change.
battleground for climate change from the United nations Human Settlement Program, or UN-HABITAT, shows that while the world's cities only cover 2 percent of global land area,
Understanding the contribution of cities to climate change will help us intervene at the local level.
if cities are going to have a positive impact on climate change. Photo: Chang'r/Flickr Via Grist
But even though the physical urban environment supports healthy bees, the social urban environment certainly does not.
There is a reason urban beekeepers take care to keep their beehives out of sight. Wilson-Rich wants to change that:
 For Scanlon, the benefits of keeping bees go beyond sharing honey with her neighbors:
Å Our bees now make sure that all our neighbors gardens (within a 2 km radius) are pollinated well.
And as World Architecture News reports, the tunnels actually provide a good environment for growing, year around:
The Standouts As the sun broke through the fog, the festival streets filled with groups of chatty friends and families with small children,
You will not see A p-Planter in your neighborhood any time soon oe for one thing, they're far from ADA-compliantapproved oe
The idea is that people who live in the neighborhood and walk by the plants every day would be encouraged to act as stewards for the plants
and the future of the climate is uncertain? Dr. Roger Beachy, chief scientist of the U s. Department of agriculture, has some ideas.
To ensure we have a sustainable environment in which to live, and one that is not degraded.
what might impact our agriculture production with the change in climate. If we grow more biomass
and you have to adjust their genetics to be more resistant to diseases or drought or flood.
Interestingly, Agroatlas maps of climate, environment and other data can be integrated with computer models to assess the potential impact of climate change on the future distribution of crops
such that the trees and plants will help control the building's climate, through shading in summer and daylighting in winter,
who has been known to give away leftovers to his neighbors. During the Summer of Smart hackathon, which involved 48 hours of rapid prototyping,
I guess what I really like about their approach is the idea of intervening upon the environment only as much as necessary to fix a problem--no matter how long it takes.
No deforestation, hazardous waste or expenditure of fuels. And interesting enough, the living bridges are actually stronger than ones built from wood.
Since the Cherrapunji region gets about fifteen meters of rainfall yearly, their proven durability demonstrates that the structures can better withstand being bombarded by flash floods and other destructive forces.
Faced with such hazards it's nice to know that nature on its own can provide that kind of support,
Invention turns fog into drinking water Video: World s cheapest light bulb Innovative bike tire can inflate itself Finally,
He quickly learned to adjust his technique and ingredients to the environmental variables. Assistant chef Yuki Minakawa, who has worked with
but he is such an expert that you put him in any environment and he'll still make an excellent noodle,
dry weather that wormed its way into the Northeast during July. Truth be told, though, we lose at least some plants every summer to the opposite problem:
These companies, Cyber-Rain and ET Water, have released both recently cloud services that provide guidance about
Cyber-Rain's application, called XCI Cloud, works in conjunction with the company's controller technologies to help residential users better control watering.
Cyber-Rain claims that the system investment might be covered in certain places by water utility rebate programs.
Said Cyber-Rain CEO Diana Schulz: What we are providing is smart irrigation in the palm of your hand.
XCI Cloud gives property owners and managers a graphical tool that lets them manage watering from any Internet-connected computer in the world...
along with access to the cloud application, starts at $499. ET Water's GNOME Smart Irrigation Calculator,
along with weather conditions and landscape profiles to figure out when you should or shouldn't water your yard.
but these cloud-based services will probably become more ubiquitous. I wouldn't be surprised to see more water utilities consider layering such applications into their web sites
under EPA reviewglyphosate is the key ingredient in the world's top selling weed killer, Roundup.
The Environmental protection agency is examining the human and environmental health risks and has set a deadline of 2015 for determining
The EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs is in charge of the review and has three main options:
Pijanowski is championing an effort to create a field of science to study the ecological importance of sounds.
We spoke yesterday about how this effort could help us monitor the effects of climate change,
You're working in the field of soundscape ecology, using sound to understand the ecological characteristics of landscapes.
Why is this important? Up to now, we've had a lot of great science in the area of bio-acoustics and environmental acoustics.
Bio-acoustics has been the study of the vocalization of animals, studying behavior, physiology, anatomy related to that.
We've had done a lot of research on environmental acoustics, looking at how noise propagates through the landscape.
In working with issues dealing with climate change and land use and biodiversity, we realized we needed measures that allowed us to incorporate all of those aspects into something that was unifying.
The terms we've developed allow us to think through ecosystem processes and the way humans impact that.
Biophony-To be able to understand the biological voices that occur in the landscape Geophony-Sounds from the geophysical environment,
such as wind and water Anthrophony-The noise that humans make, which can be produced by a variety of instruments
If you put a microphone in the middle of an environment, you can record all those. You can record them for long periods of time.
You can look at all aspects of the environment at any time of the day. How can sound help us monitor climate change?
Let me give you an example. Some of the studies we're conducting are in the tropics.
Whenever you're walking around in the tropical forests, there are lots of streams. Those streams are rushing and gushing right after a rainfall.
They're creating a lot of sounds. The organisms that exist in that landscape have to compete with those sounds.
So climate has a huge effect on certain kinds of landscapes. There are some organisms that exist in quiet landscapes.
But if climate were to change --if it became windier or there was a lot of rain--that could impact their vocalizations,
which could impact their life history and reproduction. Sound can be a universal measure and help us to understand all these global environmental change issues.
You've monitored sound in the tropics, but also near the Purdue campus. Talk about your work capturing sounds that are in danger of being lost.
It's really at the heart of some of the early results of this new field.
because as we walk around the urban environment, we've learned to turn off our ears. We no longer listen to the birds or other critters.
'If we have these out in the environment, we can use them as rapid assessment tools to assess the biodiversity
you can probably hear a little bit of wind. This is a landscape we're all used to listening to.
We're trying to analyze this kind of information in urban environments and natural environments. How do they differ?
How do we use these new technologies to help conservation efforts, especially in the tropics and the temperate forests?
Try to get away from an urban environment. If you take a hike, listen to everything that's around you.
Try to listen to the wind. Listen to the birds. Listen to the water, if you have a stream nearby.
credits its new neighbor for the increase in traffic as the other owner says the uptick occurred only after Apple s debut. via Ars Technica,
When biodegradable products are eco-unfriendlywe might not be reaping the full environmental benefits of biodegradable products, according to new research.
and Environmental Engineering and co-author with James Levis of a paper describing the research, spoke with me recently about the findings
Why might biodegradable products actually harm, rather than help, the environment? If a biodegradable material is placed in a landfill,
According to the EPA, about 35 percent of waste is in landfills that use the methane for energy.
And about 31 percent is in landfills that just release it to the environment. Even when we say methane is a good energy source
and just have released it in the atmosphere are the subset causing the  environmental  problem.
which is a well-known process for comparing the environmental implications of different activities. When we apply that to a landfill,
 If methane is emitted into the environment, that's a net positive. If methane is burned to form carbon dioxide, that's a neutral.
It's a positive benefit to the environment. Â We're thinking about all the different factors that influence the total global warming gases going into the atmosphere from the landfill
That also is a positive for the environment because you're taking carbon out of the atmosphere.
and tell them it's better for the environment.''We want the store to take a step back
and say,'Is this really good for the environment?''To do that, we need to consider the emissions associated with producing that container,
when introduced into a humid or tropical climate. What works for one product won't work across your entire line.
Why cities are on the Ëoecutting edge of environmentalism Climate change: it's time for the health sector to get involved Earthquake could threaten California s water supply Tech,
Balaji notes that much of the rainfall in India comes during a 45-day window in certain parts of the country,
And it is considered by scientists to be as great a threat as climate change. As the coordinator of the UK partner response to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 International Year of Biodiversity
Darwin s work lies at the heart of our modern understanding of ecology and biodiversity,
The second issue is environmental degradation, including and especially climate change. In this latter case oe climate change oe there is a double issue.
Firstly we will need to adapt with climate change. As environments change we will need to look at different crops for example,
and it s the biological resources in nature which we will need to adapt. Equally important is the ability of biodiversity to mitigate against the impact of the carbon we release.
Carbon is sequestered naturally in the environment, fixed in the wood of forests, the coral of reefs, the peat of bogs,
and the planktonic oozes of the oceans. Nature should be our greatest asset but we are degrading it
instead oe and this is at our peril. We need to reengage with the significance of biodiversity to make a difference in environmental management.
The loss of genetic resources affects how we produce new crops, medicines and the creation of novel products in industry.
It undermines the ecological systems which protects the natural and human environment against rapid change,
slowing for example the risks of drought or flood and the impacts of other extreme weather events oe such a mangroves providing protection for coastal communities against the impact of tsunamis.
Aren't we starting to understand that sustainability is worth investing in? People have begun to see the issue,
This was proposed in the Climate Change COP15 in Copenhagen, but there wasn t an inter-governmental agreement that would allow the program to develop quickly.
the other two being the sustainable development and environment/climate management issue I referred to earlier.
and species diversity and where the complexity of ecological roles are significant. For example the forests in Costa rica and other parts of the tropics,
and their marine equivalents in coral reef systems. Here among other things is the high genetic variety
and damaging the fishing resources of coral reefs again impacting local environment and economy. Furthermore mangrove provides fuel wood and other resources for local people,
and protect from hazard such as tsunami, and sea level damage. When you add up what is being lost,
and the potential to create green industry around managing all of the ecosystem services it provides could help boost our economy,
and look for environmental changes that could be harming bee colonies. Â Bees are social insects that return to the same point
Any change in their behavior indicates a change in their environment. If we can model their movements,
Sea turtles at Palmyra Atoll forage in a unique environment currently removed from pervasive human influence.
As part of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) s Sea turtle Research and Conservation program, our program goals here are to study sea turtle distribution and abundance, focusing on ecological interactions, behavior, conservation, health issues,
so we can understand the natural processes, ecological roles, and human impacts. What surprises you most about Palmyra Atoll?
How do you make people think about their impact to an ecosystem? When I talk or teach about biodiversity,
 The term refers to the variety of life On earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems,
and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it. Biodiversity includes not only species we consider rare, threatened,
Species and habitats in every part of the world all play a role in maintaining the healthy ecosystems that support our every day lives.
If people want to think about their impact to an ecosystem, I usually use the lens of threats to biodiversity.
Ecosystems are being altered rapidly for numerous reasons, and the planet is undergoing a massive loss of biodiversity due to habitat loss and fragmentation, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species,
and climate change. Many of our everyday actions, from consumption to our choices of where we live, impact biodiversity.
Biodiversity and a sustainable food supply are linked intimately by way of both ecosystem goods and services.
Other ecosystem goods and services sustain human health in a variety of ways. Studies have estimated that at least 80%of the world s population relies on compounds obtained mainly from plants as their primary source of health care.
Examples of health-related ecosystem services include water filtration, flood regulation and waste removal. Intact ecosystems can protect humans from natural disasters, such as cyclones.
Also, studies suggest that biodiversity loss is one of the environmental factors associated with disease emergence.
Species diversity can act as a buffer for the transmission of some infectious agents, including the Lyme spirochete, West Nile virus, and Hanta viruses.
The loss of important ecosystem services is cause for concern. The processes by which humans degrade
and destroy the environment can also lead to, or aggravate, armed conflict, cause mass involuntary migrations.
Beyond those impacts of biodiversity loss on the functioning of ecosystems, human cultures around the world have been,
Not only is rail better for the environment, but it gets trucks off the road. Has there been pressure from cities to reduce the number of trucks in terms of traffic and accidents?
So that s a social benefit and an environmental benefit. What are the conversations you re having with customers about carbon footprints?
So that s where the environmental benefit comes in and where the Cleansteps program found our carbon credits interesting.
Some researchers have pointed out that the only anatomical structures in the vicinity of what we think of as the G spot are the Skene s glands
Through the Chicago Climate Action Plan (CCAP), the city on the lake is working toward an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Chicago's requirement to see the actions of multiple stakeholders across the city (not just those that are owned city) is well beyond the feature set of a more corporate-focused environmental performance software application,
strengthening neighborhood bonds, additional income or just access to fresher produce, according to the study. Can urban agriculture become one patch in the diverse fabric of a major city like Detroit?
when we started thinking about climate change. Steel and concrete are great but not environmentally friendly,
World's largest iceberg bigger than New york Citywhile there's no shortage of worry over the Arctic's dwindling ice,
Back in October, NASA satellites spotted a massive crack that cuts across the floating ice shelf of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica.
and create what will possibly be the world's largest iceberg, a chunk of freshwater ice bigger than all of New york city,
The Pine island iceberg is estimated to cover 350 square miles. Over the years, glaciologists have kept a close eye on the Antarctic as changes in this region known as the end of the earth plays a significant role in the fate of our planet.
locking up humidity in the atmosphere as snow. However, the less stable west Antarctic area where the Pine Island glacier is located happens to be home to the world's largest ice streams,
fast moving channels of ice surrounded by slower moving ice walls. And it's also where the much of the ice streams drains out into the sea rather than collect on a large ice shelf.
Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, tells National geographic:
generally you see some acceleration of the glacier. That means that the ice will flow into the ocean at a faster rate,
Such an acceleration is of particular concern at the Pine Island Glacier, because, among Antarctic glaciers, it's the one that's contributing the most to sea level rise.
In fact, he said, ice flows from that glacier alone account for a quarter to a third of Antarctica's total contribution to sea level rise.
While both polar caps are losing ice as the world's climate warms the Pine Island glacier is melting at an alarming rate, about six meters a year, according to an ABC News report.
The crack was discovered by a team of NASA scientists assigned to Operation Icebridge, a six year study of changes in the Arctic and Antarctic.
It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when the iceberg will break off. But in the meantime, you can bet we'll be keeping tabs on the situation.
More breathtaking satellite images: China s Area 51? Mysterious site spotted from space Mysterious Ëoenazca Lines ruins discovered in Saudi desert China s massive Ëoepollution cloud can be seen from space NASA satellites unearth Egypt s lost
pyramids Kim Jong Il kept 24 million people in the dark A world in the balance:
Interactive map reveals effects of climate change in your neighborhood NASA video shows global warming is real Rare photos of Ëoeuncontacted tribe reveal a disappearing society Infographic:
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