Archinect - News

Interactive map illustrates the impact of coronavirus on global pollution

2020-03-25T17:49:00-04:00

In an effort to track the impacts, Earther assembled an interactive map to explore the changes in air pollution not just in the U.S. but globally. The map runs on Google Earth Engine and uses data collected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite, which circles the Earth capturing various types of data. It includes four snapshots from December 2019 through March 20, 2020. The Sentinel satellite data shows nitrogen dioxide, which is a handy proxy for human activity.

Brian Kahn and Dhruv Mehrotra of Earther highlight a recently launched pollution visualizer their team has assembled that highlights the stark changes in human activity across the world in the wake of COVID-19-imposed economic and social disruptions.

The authors interview Barbara Dix, an atmospheric researcher with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder who explains, “We are now witnessing a global experiment where one emission source is rapidly turned down (NOx), while other sources are still up or will decrease more slowly. A lot of atmospheric science will come out of this.”

The interactive map, which uses satellite data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P satellite and runs on the Google Earth Engine, can be accessed here.

The argument against zoning

2016-08-11T13:29:00-04:00

Zoning, although designed with the benign intention of keeping toxin-spewing industrial factories away from residential properties, has certainly been used for ill: ask any African-American family in the 20th century whose application to use their VA entitlement to buy a house was denied due to "redlining." Over at Bloomberg News, Justin Fox takes up the case that on the 100th anniversary of zoning laws in New York City, maybe it's time to substantially re-evaluate them.

As he writes, "Over the past few years, zoning has been blamed, mainly by economists bearing substantial empirical evidence, for an ever-growing litany of ills. The charge that zoning is used to keep poor people and minorities out of wealthy suburbs has been around for decades. But recent research has also blamed it for increasing income segregation, reducing economic mobility and depressing economic growth nationwide."

The latest in urban planning:

Plans unveiled to save Aberdeen home of Mitsubishi founder

2016-07-08T09:50:00-04:00

A top businessman has offered to help restore the home of [Thomas Blake Glover] a Scottish pioneer who became one of the most famous merchants in Japan [...] If anything can be done to restore Glover House we will be prepared to do it and we have made an offer to contribute to the house reopening in his memory [...] the building would be turned into an “ideas hub”, which could be used to strengthen business links with Japan - with a particular focus on the oil and gas industry.

The home of Thomas Blake Glover in Japan gets 2 million (!) visitors a year and is an important heritage site, representative for the scottish-japanese history of industrialisation.The Glover's house in Aberdeen is in a reversed situation. It has fallen into a state of disrepair and is in desperate need of restoration. Now, the Founder of the Thomas Blake Glover Foundation, Anne Malcolm, welcomed the proposed renovation work. She said: “It is very important that the Glover House should be kept for posterity as it’s very important historically."

There have been no serious historical dramatisations of Glover’s remarkable life and role in the Japanese history. Glover, equipped with enthusiasm for his modernising energy, had the willingness to act and negotiate in unfamiliar and dangerous surroundings in late 19th century Japan. The preservation project in Aberdeen aims to keep a architectural record of this famous Scot.

More informations Thomas Blake Glover offer an essay and a documenta...

China used more cement in 3 years than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century

2015-03-26T13:45:00-04:00

All of America’s cement consumption during the [20th] century adds up to around 4.4 gigatons (1 gigaton is roughly 1 billion metric tons). In comparison, China used around 6.4 gigatons of cement in the three years of 2011, 2012 and 2013 [...] The country is urbanizing at a historic rate, much faster than the U.S. did in the 20th Century. More than 20 million Chinese relocate to cities each year, which is more people than live in downtown New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago combined.