domingo, 26 de abril de 2009

ARE WE WELL INFORMED ABOUT GLOBAL DIMMING? ......DO WE KNOW ITS REAL POWER??



We hear and read a great deal about climate change and in particular "global warming.” But it is only in recent years that we have been alerted to another man-made feature of climate change - "global dimming".
Research has shown that air pollutants from fossil fuel use make clouds reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space. This leads to an effect known as global dimming whereby less heat and energy reaches the earth. At first, it sounds like an ironic savior to climate change problems. However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s where millions died, because the northern hemisphere oceans were not warm enough to allow rain formation.
It’s crucial to say that the impact of global dimming can be devastating because it’s leading to various human and environmental problems such as smog, respiratory problems, droughts, famine, and acid rain.

What other contributions are there to global dimming?

Air transport is also contributing to global dimming. The vapor from aircraft, known as contrails, also forms water droplets, which increase the amount of solar radiation reflected back into space. Evidence for this was observed by scientists during the three days after the 9/11 attacks o¬n the World Trade Center. During that time all commercial flights were grounded, and gave scientists the opportunity to study the effects o¬n temperature without contrails. The effect was that the range in temperature increased by 1 degree centigrade. This was considered to be a significant and substantial effect for such a short time.


Conclusion:

 Less energy from the sun should make the earth become cooler; however the measurements reveal that the average temperature or earth is rising.
 Global dimming is not a solution to the global warming; both are dangerous.
 Droughts, famine and many deaths have been caused by the Global Dimming.
 Climatologists emphasize that the source of global warming and global dimming must be tackled together. Drastic reductions of the burning of fossil fuels is required to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases and the particulates which are giving rise to global dimming.

Solutions:

 It’s suggested that people start using renewable energies like the solar or the wind energy instead of fossil fuels.
 It’s essential to know that Global dimming can be reduced by cleaning up the emissions from burning fossil fuels and the emissions from vehicles.
 In the future hybrid cars are going to burn fuel so the only close solution is the use of the car to hydrogen.
 It’s necessary that people understand the importance of recycling but having in mind the different types of garbage: biodegradable, iron, aluminum, textiles, paper, glass, and plastics.
It seems that efforts to save the planet are not enough and probably that is because we’ve been paying to much attention to global warming. If we could investigate more about GW and GD, we will realize the serious problem that is affecting us.

jueves, 2 de abril de 2009

"CROSSWATERS......CORAZON DE BAMBU"

El Crosswaters Ecolodge & Spa, es el primer hotel de la china construido con materiales biodegradables. Esta obra de arquitectura ecológica se creo utilizando una innovadora técnica descubierta y perfeccionada por el arquitecto Simón Velez en la que lleva trabajando mas de 25 años. El método consiste en inyectar concreto dentro de las cañas del Bambú, donde se dan las uniones, con lo que se logra erigir estructuras tan colosales como las que un ingeniero puede fabricar en acero.



Los gestores del proyecto hicieron el plan maestro, que contemplaba la disponibilidad de una gran extensión natural de Bambú dentro del emplazamiento, que podía ser utilizado para la construccion. Es así que llamaron a Simón Velez que trabajando junto con Edsa(una firma experta en planeamiento y paisajismo) en la construccion de la estructura con ese vegetal.
Este arquitecto viajo con cuatro obreros colombianos que permanecieron dos años trabajando intensamente junto con 150 obreros chinos. Las dimensiones son monumentales.

Este hotel es pequeño para la china, pues todo allá es gigantesco, solo iba a contar con 30 cabañas pero termino teniendo 130. La mayoría de los materiales que se usaron en la construccion y decoración de este hotel, con vistas increíbles de la reserva, son biodegradables como el Bambú, la madera, y algunos textiles locales. También se utilizaron insumos, como es el caso de las tejas de barro, que proveniron de edificios demolidos en los poblados cercanos.



El Crosswaters ecolodge & Spa es un hotel de lujo, dirigido principalmente a la gente que habita la gran ciudad industrial y comercial de Guangzhou, una de las mas grandes de china. Aunque no esta pensado en primera instancia para turismo extranjero, tiene los brazos abiertos para recibir visitantes de cualquier nacionalidad, que de hecho encontraran una experiencia inolvidable. Las habitaciones dobles van desde los 300 dolares.