Is the Chance to Turn Hotels Into Affordable Housing Slipping Away? Soon after Covid devastated the New York hotel industry in the spring of 2020, politicians, developers and homeless services groups arrived at a rare consensus: This was a once-in-a-generation chance to convert struggling hotels into affordable housing.
In California, which faced a similar situation during the pandemic, government agencies have helped to convert 120 sites, most of them hotels, into 5,911 housing units, the majority permanent housing for the homeless and other low-income renters, according to an April report from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The grand total of hotels converted into permanent affordable housing in New York City during the pandemic?
Is solar cooking more than just a flash in the pan? This culinary magic is known as solar cooking.
Instead of burning a fuel source, solar cooking uses mirrored surfaces to channel and concentrate sunlight into a small space, cooking food while producing zero carbon emissions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2.6 billion people around the globe cook their daily meals over open fires. Fuelled with wood, animal waste, kerosene and charcoal, these fires produce highly polluting smoke and contribute to deforestation, soil erosion and ultimately desertification -- but solar cookers could provide an alternative.
Solar Cookers International (SCI) is an non-profit that advocates for the adoption of solar thermal cooking technologies. Documentary tells story of the indigenous uprising in Cherán, Michoacán. A documentary about an indigenous uprising against organized crime in Michoacán and the subsequent establishment of a self-governing community premiered online on Thursday.
Cherán: The Burning Hope tells the story of Cherán, a Purépecha town 110 kilometers west of Morelia. Fed up with the presence of drug traffickers and illegal loggers, residents banded together to oust the criminals in 2011, even using bonfires to prevent loggers from entering the community. They later established their own security force to supersede the municipal police, whose members were in cahoots with the criminals, and dislodged the municipal government, replacing it with a community council.
Produced by Doha Debates, an organization affiliated with the non-profit Qatar Foundation, and directed by Elpida Nikou and Rodrigo Hernández, the 13-minute film tells the story of Cherán from the perspective of its residents. “We couldn’t move around freely and were surrounded by fear. Mexico News Daily. (5) Heineken Worlds Apart OpenYourWorld 1. (5) Made in the U.S.A. Reforestation holds promise for Europe’s increasingly drier summers.
A new study in Nature Geoscience suggests that if all land suitable for reforestation was forested in Europe, average summer rainfall would increase by 7.6%, partially ameliorating drier summers predicted as a result of climate change.While the study is based on all the potentially reforestable land in Europe after accounting for food security and biodiversity, the amount of land people are willing and able to reforest is likely to be lower in practice.As a statistical model, the study helps scientists and policymakers understand the relationship between forests and precipitation and highlight the benefits beyond carbon sequestration.
Plant more trees! ‘It could feed the world’: amaranth, a health trend 8,000 years old that survived colonization. Just over 10 years ago, a small group of Indigenous Guatemalan farmers visited Beata Tsosie-Peña’s stucco home in northern New Mexico.
In the arid heat, the visitors, mostly Maya Achì women from the forested Guatemalan town of Rabinal, showed Tsosie-Peña how to plant the offering they had brought with them: amaranth seeds. Back then, Tsosie-Peña had just recently come interested in environmental justice amid frustration at the ecological challenges facing her native Santa Clara Pueblo – an Indigenous North American community just outside the New Mexico town of Española, which is downwind from the nuclear facilities that built the atomic bomb. A bison bridge could bring herds over the Mississippi. Every day, 36,000 cars drive over the Mississippi River on the Interstate 80 bridge.
But it could soon become a footpath for humans and bison. Spanish farmers fight forest fires with agroforestry (and many sheep) Galicia is a dry, fire prone region of northwestern Spain, which is also the continent’s hardest-hit region in terms of wildfires, which are increasing: 2020 saw more acreage burned here than in the previous two years combined.A form of agroforestry where livestock are grazed among trees offers a solution, though: sheep and cattle graze the brush that often ignites during dry times, in an agricultural method called silvopasture.Not only do the trees provide food and cover for livestock, they also sequester carbon and provide habitat for wildlife while boosting farmers’ incomes.Farms that implement silvopasture have not burned during recent fires, as one researcher tells Mongabay: “Adequate management of the mountains with shepherding could be part of the solution to preventing fires.”
GALICIA, Spain — The forest fire stopped just before arriving at Nieves Fernández Vidueira’s farm, but it burned all day in the area surrounding Quintela do Pando in Galicia, northwestern Spain. Citations: At Orchards and Vineyards, Birds Are Outperforming Pesticides. From the Summer 2021 issue of Living Bird magazine.
Gene therapy restores immune function in children with rare immunodeficiency. Loading Skip to main content Site Menu Get the latest public health information from CDC Get the latest research information from NIH | Español NIH staff guidance on coronavirus (NIH Only) You are here Home » News & Events » News Releases News Releases News Release.
People are planting tiny urban forests to boost biodiversity and fight climate change. Miniature urban forests planted using a method invented by a Japanese botanist in the 1970s are growing in popularity.
Dense copses bursting with biodiversity can thrive in areas the size of a tennis court. Known as 'Miyawaki' forests, the trees grow more quickly and absorb more CO2 than plantations grown for timber. How much space do you think you need to grow a forest? One Man’s Mission to Revive the Last Redwood Forests. What To Do With a Broken Zipper. Duaa Awchi / EyeEmGetty Images The common zipper is a remarkably durable device that has remained ostensibly unchanged for more than a century. And today, zippers remain popular as the simplest, most reliable way to quickly open and securely close everything from jackets and jeans, to tents and backpacks. However, when a zipper stops working properly it can send the most mild-mannered among us into a fit of rage.
Here are five quick ways to fix a faulty zipper—without losing your cool. Vincent Callebaut releases latest photographs for his carbon-absorbing vertical forest in Taipei. Paris-based architecture practice Vincent Callebaut Architectures has revealed latest photographs of its carbon-absorbing vertical forest in Taipei, Taiwan. Named Tao Zhu Yin Yuan, the 42,705-square-metre twisting tower is nearing completion and the recent photographs show that planting for gardens has started on the tower, while waterfalls construction and interior decoration of public facilities space are underway. Located in residential area of Taipei XinYi Development District, the tower will have 21 floors and 4 floors basement, with steel structure implemented with earthquake protection system. For the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower, Vincent Callebaut Architectures won an international architectural competition in November 2010. California City Ends Its Chronic Homelessness.
Grassland Restoration: A Win-Win-Win for Birds, Prairies, and Landowners. Since 1970, North America's grassland birds have lost about half of their population, with an astounding three out of four species declining. These losses are concerning for many reasons, perhaps most of all because bird declines serve as an “alarm” warning of challenges to the health of our land. What's behind these dramatic downturns? The short answer is habitat loss. In the central regions of Texas and Oklahoma, where ABC's local partner the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture (OPJV) operates, large-scale habitat loss is depriving native birds of the food and space they need to survive and thrive. Habitat loss in the region has been driven, in large part, by land-use changes and misguided management practices, of which wildfire suppression has been the most detrimental.
Legislation to Reduce Bird Collisions Passes the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill’s success is latest evidence of increasing momentum in bird-friendly building trend Media Contact: Jordan Rutter, Director of Public Relations, 202-888-7472 | jerutter@abcbirds.org | @JERutter Expert Contact: Dr. Christine Sheppard, Director, Glass Collisions Program, 914-261-8277 | csheppard@abcbirds.org Birds such as the Common Yellowthroat fly into reflective glass because they confuse mirrored trees and other habitat for the real thing.
The proposed legislation will reduce this threat. Photo by Owen Deutsch (Washington, D.C., July 1, 2020) American Bird Conservancy (ABC) applauds the U.S. Shockingly Simple: How Farmland Could Absorb an Extra 2 Billion Tonnes of CO2 From the Atmosphere Each Year. Credit: Dr Dimitar Epihov. Tiny Weed-Killing Robots Could Make Pesticides Obsolete. Smile! Could the pandemic lead to happier times? Huts for the homeless catching on in the Northwest. 40 Tiny Houses You Can Buy on Amazon - Prefab Houses You Can Buy Online. Students Invent Bacteria That Eat Plastic From The Oceans And Turn It Into Water - SCIENCE AND SPACE. The high pollution in the oceans is a big problem on the planet. Hemp Could Be the Solution to Our Plastic Pollution Crisis. 'Plant 1 trillion trees to fight climate change'
A simple idea to whip climate change. Many people working on this subject believe the world needs a carbon tax on dirty fuels - coal and oil - to solve the problem. Regenerative agriculture can make farmers stewards of the land again. How the Netherlands Feeds the World. This story appears in the September 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. How Bill Gates-backed vegan Beyond Meat is winning over meat-eaters. The forest and sustainable forestry - Swedish Wood. Makerspace Starter Kit.
How to French Toast Leftover Pizza. How Rwanda’s Capital Became an African Tech Leader – Member Feature Stories. Impactful Teacher in Ghana Teaches Computer Programs Sans Computer. Silent rooftop wind turbines could generate half of a household’s energy needs. The Revolutionary Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is About To Set Sail. Refugees learn masonry. Rescue fruit species. Portugal’s Example: What Happened After It Decriminalized All Drugs, From Weed to Heroin. Man-Made Whirlpool Generates Electricity. International Cospas-Sarsat Programme. The Leap to Single-Payer: What Taiwan Can Teach.
Tesla battery races to save Australia grid from coal plant crash – injecting 7MW in milliseconds. Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture. Growing food from mattresses: what experts can learn from working in refugee camps. Nerigo Emergency Evacuation Lift. Adding irradiated plastic makes for stronger concrete, cuts CO2 emissions. Amazon Now Sells Prefabricated Tiny Houses. Futuristic solar-powered Dutch family car hailed 'the future' Six EdTech Startups Democratizing Education [Infographic] This Tiny Country Feeds the World. The Equal Protection Challenge to Winner Take All: A Legal Guide. Three Billion People Cook Over Open Fires ― With Deadly Consequences. Do you know the value of rainwater? – GS rainwater harvesting module. Basic Income Experiment In Kenya Prompts A Boom In Savings Clubs : Goats and Soda. How to Make Fun of Nazis - The New York Times. From Skyhook To STEM: Kareem Abdul Jabbar Brings The Science : NPR Ed.
The World's First Functional Laser Weapon is Ready to Protect You. At Summer Camp, Girls Build Sandboxes And Confidence In Their Own Abilities. 13 Bright Spots and Optimistic Thinkers Challenge the Dark Future of Trump. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: How we can face the future without fear, together. "Chairless chair" is designed to provide support for active factory workers. Understanding Blockchain – IoT For All – Medium. Blockchains for Public Data – IoT For All – Medium.
Wales and Scotland offer free abortions to women from Northern Ireland. Secrets Of Breast-Feeding From Global Moms In The Know : Goats and Soda. A School That Provides The One Constant In Homeless Children's Lives : NPR Ed. Refugee Scientists In Germany Get Support From Local Academics : Goats and Soda. Watch SpaceX's 5 Biggest Moments in Just 60 Seconds. Making Change: Brandon Dennison.