Does Not Mean that Global Warming Isn’t Real

The ushering in of our new president has been accompanied by an almost giddy excitement of a return to science. But apparently some would prefer to keep science in the closet on a few issues and a cold winter has provided fodder for the global warming denying flame.

Some news organizations are having a snow-day with our recent weather patterns and what it means for global warming. Media Matters did a nice job of discussing each of the”this is global warming? wink-wink nudge-nudge,” moments, which includes discussing the irony of having to cancel global warming senate hearings because of snow.

While it is quite simple to appeal to the masses with such talk, especially while people are dealing with a snowier and icier winter than they have for a while–so a little warmer sounds good, actually!–the science is still there. Time series data, that spans decades and not just seasons reveals that yes, the earth is warming, even though it is cold out today and will be tomorrow.

So keep those boots on as you muck around the concrete jungle of slush. But be careful what you wish for. Think August on the subway platform and rising tides and remember that we need winters that stay this way.

Today, I will Worry About My Job

A recent poll indicates that environmental protection and sustainability, have slipped on the list of concerns that Americans are pre-occupied with today. Compared with last year’s numbers, when 56% of Americans said that environmental protection was important, the latest poll published by The Pew Research Center, shows just 41% of Americans calling it a top priority. However, education, energy, and social security rose significantly in priority as did addressing moral decline. (It has been quite an immoral year, hasn’t it?)

As we now have our 44th president in place, who has pledged to address many of these ailing factors of society, including environmental protection and energy, it seems that his job now is to help people connect the dots between an economy in shambles, volatile energy futures, and environmental protection, that allows for a more holistic approach to restructuring priorities.

This poll in many ways reminds us that when we try and protect the environment–simply as one thing, void of all its inherent connections to our every day lives–it is not a very effective tool to gauge peoples concern for it. What if we reframe environmental protection as THE energy issue of our lifetimes? What if national health care coverage was framed as part of the mess of why our businesses can’t thrive and remain competitive, while implementing fuel and energy efficiency practices?

Most of the time, we view environmental issues as distant threats–”Not imminent,” as the Times coverage of this poll suggests. But the age of the environment as a single “thing” to protect must be over. This lens is not only limited in its scope and ability to empower people to understand what the environment actually is, but it allows for people to maintain the allusion of non-imminence and a continued distraction from the severity of these interconnected problems. I wonder what the polling questions would look like, with all these dots connected.

Almost in your Back Yard

It hasn’t quite launched yet, but a new online resource for eco-friendly New Yorkers is going to make getting involved at the neighborhood level a whole lot easier. “IOBY connects people to local environmental projects.” And its model is being test driven here in our five boroughs.

Basically, the site will consist of a map, where users can enter their address and view what type of environmental projects are going on in their neighborhood. They can then give money to said project or get directly involved, or both of course. IOBY will not rank organizations in any particular order, but rather their users will.

The full site is set to launch in mid February. But the information up there now gives us a taste of what is to come. Organizations can now also apply to be listed on the site. Glad to have IOBY in our cyber-backyard.

On Day 1

Like many other Americans (78% to be exact), I am ready for change. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, whatever your issues, chances are, you are ready for something to be different in D.C., on Wallstreet, in the world. Listening to the news this morning got me a bit welled up. And just looking at the schedule of what is to come today is making me more anxious than a kid at the Christmas dinner table, awaiting his presents–or presence–in this case.

But beyond this excitement, I can’t help but think of the planning ramifications of inauguration day. Why is it that only on special occasions, we close off car traffic and encourage people to take mass transit or become pedestrians? Why is it that only in this extreme instance of adding 2 million people to the urban grid of Washington D.C. do people get sense knocked into them? At the far ends of a spectrum, there are lessons to be learned. If it makes sense today, than it should make sense tomorrow.

We can learn from the extremes and apply them in moderation. No, it might not be entirely appropriate to make the area car free permanently. But we can certainly continue to encourage foot traffic and mass transit, instead of focusing on moving automobiles as fast as possible. Hope, people! Keep it alive.

A Tree Can Fix It

Do you ever feel like it is harder to keep your concentration and think simply while in the big city? Do you discover a noticeable difference in the solace of solitude and quiet, regarding how your brain functions? Chances are that at some point, you have felt very overwhelmed by a small task, say crossing the street at rush-hour. The possibility of thinking about anything else at that moment is near zero.

Scientists are starting to look at what the city does to your brain. And it’s not quite as uplifting as thinking about the cosmopolitan, “mass cultural exchange and osmosis that can only occur in a city.” (That is a direct quote from a friend of mine who argued that this article doesn’t pay due diligence to that unique aspect of the city.) Essentially, researchers are starting to understand that human brain activity is compromised in urban environments. Just a few minutes on a crowded street makes the brain less able to remember certain things and also can trigger a loss of self-control. I’m sure we all have a related battle story.

While this write up tends to focus on the limitations of the brain, it also discusses the limitations of the city scape. The stark lack of natural spaces only serves to magnify this collective loss of brain activity, as natural landscapes tend to calm people and create a stronger ability to focus. These spaces don’t over stimulate our brains, which is basically what the city and urban lifestyles are constantly doing. And there is evidence that immersion in nature can have a restorative effect.

This is not to say that we should cover the concrete jungle and dismantle the city. Society’s most creative and innovative scientific and cultural advancements were (and still are) born in the city. But people are starting to recognize that the quality of life for urbanites can be significantly higher with the introduction of more urban open spaces. And we can assume that the quality of what they produce and contribute to society will be of higher caliber as well. Finally, our oft quoted fact that the world is more than 50% urban at this point means that these things matter more than ever now.

More trees, functioning brains, better cities. It seems rather straightforward to me.