Yale journal examines the global impact of citiesJune 18, 2007New Haven, Conn. -- The global impact of cities is the focus of cutting-edge research in a special issue of Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology. "Cities are an environmental paradox. As dense centers of commerce and industry, they are responsible for more than their population share of global environmental impacts," said journal Editor-in-Chief Reid Lifset. "On the other hand, their compactness provides opportunities for economies of scale in transportation, waste and water services and infrastructure." The environmental impact of cities extends beyond their borders. Cities produce greenhouse gases whose impact is global. More subtly, urban residents stimulate resource extraction and manufacturing-with all the attendant environmental pressures- beyond the city boundaries. The topics in the special issue, Industrial Ecology and the Global Impact of Cities, range from the prospects for addressing global warming in urban policy to resource flows in cities. Contributors examined the environmental impacts in Singapore, Barcelona, Toronto, China and Southeast Asia as a whole. "We have always known that cities are a fundamental piece of the environmental equation, as a source of both challenges and opportunities," says Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. "What is new here is recognition, front and center, that they have a global role to play." "Industrial ecology, an emerging field that examines the relationship between industry and the environment, is especially adept at analyzing the flows of resources-materials and energy and their environmental impacts-at many scales," said Lifset, who is a member of the faculty of the Yale faculty of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and is Associate Director of the Industrial Environmental Management Program. "The application of industrial ecology to cities is beneficial at both ends-it provides powerful analytical tools and it enriches the field of industrial ecology." Yale University |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Related Global Impact Current Events and Global Impact News Articles A sprightly explanation for UFO sightings? In legend, sprites are trolls, elves and other spirits that dance high above our ozone layer. But scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that some very real "sprites" are zipping across the atmosphere as well, providing a possible explanation for those other legendary denizens of the skies, UFOs. UBC researcher gives first-ever estimate of worldwide fish biomass and impact on climate change Are there really plenty of fish in the sea? University of British Columbia fisheries researcher Villy Christensen gives the first-ever estimate of total fish biomass in our oceans: Two billion tonnes. UIC researchers hunting drugs for devastating parasitic disease Hundreds of millions of people, mainly in developing countries, are disabled by infectious diseases, according to the World Health Organization. OU Researchers Isolate Microorganisms That Convert Hydrocarbons to Natural Gas When a group of University of Oklahoma researchers began studying the environmental fate of spilt petroleum, a problem that has plagued the energy industry for decades, they did not expect to eventually isolate a community of microorganisms capable of converting hydrocarbons into natural gas. Climate change may challenge national security, classified report warns The National Intelligence Council (NIC) has completed a new classified assessment that explores how climate change could threaten U.S. security in the next 20 years by causing political instability, mass movements of refugees, terrorism, or conflicts over water and other resources in specific countries. Substance in red wine found to keep hearts young How do the French get away with a clean bill of heart health despite a diet loaded with saturated fats? Scientists have long suspected that the answer to the so-called "French paradox" lies in red wine. Now, the results of a new study bring them closer to understanding why. 1600 Eruption Caused Global Disruption The 1600 eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru had a global impact on human society, according to a new study of contemporary records by geologists at UC Davis. Dartmouth researchers alarmed by levels of mercury and arsenic in Chinese freshwater ecosystem A team of researchers, led by biologists at Dartmouth, has found potentially dangerous levels of mercury and arsenic in Lake Baiyangdian, the largest lake in the North China Plain and a source of both food and drinking water for the people who live around it. Study finds multiple neglected tropical diseases effectively treated with drugs The neglected tropical diseases are a group of 13 infectious diseases, including elephantiasis, hookworm, African sleeping sickness and trachoma, which affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, most of whom live in extreme poverty. Tiny airborne particles are a major cause of climate change A scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and his colleagues caused a storm in the atmospheric community when they suggested a few years back that tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols, may be one of the main culprits causing climate change - having, on a local scale, an even greater impact than the greenhouse gases effect. More Global Impact Current Events and Global Impact News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||