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The inexorable rise of the waters of the earth’s oceans since 1880 has already contributed almost 20 cm (nearly a foot) since 1880, and more recently the rise continues at an accelerating pace . The IPCC (2007) predicts an increase of sea level of between 0.5 to 1.5 m by the year 2100

Island nations under threat include Bermuda and the Bahamas in the Atlantic, the Pacific Islands of Palmerston, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean

in terms of numbers of persons impacted, the oceanic islands pale in comparison with the slow-motion disasters that will occur in densely populated, low-lying coastal cities like New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Jakarta and Dhaka.

Water-sensitive urban design is slowly seeping into our cities. The City of Mandurah in Western Australia, for example, has adopted a stormwater management plan

Experts predict that the world’s cities combined will gain almost one million extra people a week leading up to 2050.

The Cities of the Future program is about recognizing the issues that cities are facing, and looking for the new models that are doing a better job at building resilience

Many cities are now facing impacts such as water scarcity, flooding and heatwaves, which are expected to become more frequent and intense than they are used to. Cities need to start investing in adaptation measures using ideas and best practice from around the world.

Climate change adaptation should be flexible to accommodate uncertainty

Adaptation should work with nature, not against it.

Поскольку цена на нефть сильно упала, и в скором времени вряд ли поднимется до прежних показателей, ОАЭ собирается снизить зависимость своей экономики от нефтяных доходов. В частности, планируется активно развивать туризм.

планируют улучшить климатические условия, чтобы превратить пустыню в цветущий сад.

А что для этого нужно сделать? Конечно, возвести гору.

Calculations using “Ecological Footprint” illustrate that theworld is already using around 30% more biocapacity than theglobal ecosystems can provide in a sustainable manner.

above a certainthreshold an increase in material wealth does not improvelife satisfaction any further

stra-tegies based on more non-materialistic approaches couldachieve higher life satisfaction.

what if there was a kinder kind of high-rise?

PinkCloud.dk entered renderings that showed horizontal neighborhoods flipped on their sides

FLIP/CITY, green space would connect workplaces, shops, and residences for people of various incomes on a vertical scale.

Will China's Great GREEN Wall save the country from dust storms? 100 billion tree project could halt advancing Gobi Desert

advancing

China is planting huge strips of trees to stop the Gobi DesertFor decades the desert has been advancing and causing serious dust storms in key cities such as BeijingSince 1978 the government has been planting trees to reverse the widespread deforestation that took place in ChinaNow a recent study suggests the project has been a successThey found increased vegetation and lower levels of dust storm intensityBy 2050 100 billion trees will be planted across a tenth of the country 

A newly-discovered bacterium that feeds on plastic could help develop new recycling methods.

The discovery was made by researchers from Japan, who say that the microorganism is remarkable for its ability to breakdown completely a common type of plastic known as PET. This digestive process is slow, and the short-term implications of the discovery are uncertain, but studying the bacterium — which has been given the name Ideonella sakaiensis — could lead to new ways to safely get rid of junk material.

It's thought that plastic bottles take 450 years to break down, and although some plastics do degrade quicker in the ocean, this just leads to more chemical pollution.