A long overdue peak oil post

It’s been a while since I posted anything about peak oil and climate change, so here are a couple of recent related stories.

Because of the wacky weather across North America the last few weeks, it seems more and more people are thinking about climate change. Top of the list is an excerpt from an upcoming book you can check out on Scientific American. Concerning both peak oil and climate change it takes a look at a quintessitially American town and what the author believes will happen to it in over the next few decades.

-Also worth checking out is the National Wildlife Foundation's article about what we might expect, in terms of mental health, in a world shaped by global warming and climate change.

-We already know that man-made noise affects human beings and other mammals, now we know that it affects plants and their pollinators as well. Note to self or anyone else looking for a research project: Green roof and green wall studies need to be done to compare the performances of common green roof plants on noisy versus noise free environments.

One last somber read for this week. In the Southeastern USA there is a water battle pitting Georgia (spurred into action by Atlanta’s sprawling growth) against neighbors Florida and Alabama. Things don’t look good for the ATL.

-While there are massive concerns around the globe, I am folks are continuing to make changes for the betterment of their local communities. Minneapolis has good news for urban agriculture enthusiasts.

-And in the Bronx students planted dozens of fruit trees. Hopefully this is the start of an East Coast food forest.

World Water Day 2012

To celebrate the day it's important to learn about it's origins and
do our part.

Here's a song from 2007's World Water Day !

The Plug-In Farm + No thanks to a green wall

Let's cut to the chase:

As predicted in other places, big time water shortages ahead for much of the United States. That most likely means less lawnsacross the USA, which, I guess, is a good thing. Unless you just bought a new mower. In those drought stricken urban environments, could we see the rise of a Plug-in Farm, which marries the urban environment and animal husbandry.

-NPR covers a great story in Baltlmore, where ex-convicts are participating in the green economy through deconstruction.

-I love it when I stumble upon superior raw data. A crop map for every county in the US is a good start. Now where's the updated one? Am I too greedy???

-Remember that massive green wall that was supposed to go up on the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland? Well, it's been nixed. Too expensive, too risky, some folks say. Which is a shame, in a sense. Although I'm a huge fan of living architecture, to be honest, I can think of better ways to spend that cash. If you really want to have a green wall, why not make it a food producing one? Or spend that money on roofs, lots of green roofs.

-Lastly, whenever possible I try to post permaculture resources in other languages, here are a few in French and Arabic.