The environment thread

[iamshack]

I am totally addicted to that show.

I like it too, but I find it a bit depressing. I think I like How the Earth Was Made better.

 

Apocalypse Man is something you'd probably like if you dig Life After People.

[southsider2k5]

I like it too, but I find it a bit depressing. I think I like How the Earth Was Made better.

 

Apocalypse Man is something you'd probably like if you dig Life After People.

 

I know it is depressing, but for some reason, I have been totally addicted to natural disaster stuff as long as I can remember. What is Apocalypse Man? I haven't heard of that one. How the Earth was made and The Universe are very solid programs on History right now. For the most part I am totally down on that network as they have gone reality on me. I watch more History International than anything. I could live without Ax Men, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, etc.

[Y2HH]

I think it just shows that in the wake of ultimate destruction (Chernobyl), nature will not only forget about us, but it will do everything in it's power to wipe any memory of us, too...and in a very short time in the grand scheme of things. I think it's fascinating.

 

This is why I'm never worried about mother nature or the Earth in general. Humans don't care about climate change for the sake of the Earth, they care about it for the sake of themselves. We, as a race, don't like to admit that when the Earth decides to give up on us, there will be nothing we can do about it...and shortly thereafter, it will have forgotten about us all together.

 

I'm sure it calms the fears of many that if you drive a few less miles a year or go "green", you're doing your part and helping...but in the end, one super volcano, one asteroid, or one little virus is going to hit the reset button for the Earth, and then it'll all start over a couple of eons later.

 

I personally find that cool, albeit dark.

[iamshack]

I know it is depressing, but for some reason, I have been totally addicted to natural disaster stuff as long as I can remember. What is Apocalypse Man? I haven't heard of that one. How the Earth was made and The Universe are very solid programs on History right now. For the most part I am totally down on that network as they have gone reality on me. I watch more History International than anything. I could live without Ax Men, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, etc.

Apocalypse Man is a show about how to survive in the event of an apocalyptic event. There is some former Special Forces guy that hosts it and shows you how one might survive if he was one of a few humans left in the US or on Earth for that matter. A lot of it is filmed in the abandoned areas of New Orleans.

 

I like the reality shows they have created. Not so much Ax Men or Ice Road Truckers, but I love Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Haven't really seen much of Madhouse yet.

 

I also like their specials. The one about the Templars in the US was especially interesting.

[Balta1701]

A life spent stranded in Los Angeles traffic can nonetheless yield its epiphanies. One such moment came in November 2008, when L.A. County's beleaguered commuters voted to increase their sales tax by half a cent over the next 30 years to build an electric rail system that could speed their journeys and clean their air.

 

Now, Los Angeles is asking Washington for loans -- not grants, mind you -- to be repaid with that sales tax revenue, to accelerate said construction so that it can be done in one decade rather than three. In other words, to help finance a major environmental and stimulus program that won't add to the federal deficit. It's an idea so novel that Washington's initial reaction was befuddlement.

Good column on the usefulness of a national infrastructure plan/bank.

[southsider2k5]

Apocalypse Man is a show about how to survive in the event of an apocalyptic event. There is some former Special Forces guy that hosts it and shows you how one might survive if he was one of a few humans left in the US or on Earth for that matter. A lot of it is filmed in the abandoned areas of New Orleans.

 

I like the reality shows they have created. Not so much Ax Men or Ice Road Truckers, but I love Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Haven't really seen much of Madhouse yet.

 

I also like their specials. The one about the Templars in the US was especially interesting.

 

That is at least history. The new reality shows? Not so much.

[lostfan]

I read somewhere that the areas where the Berlin Wall used to be ended up being nature refuges since no humans ever went there.

[southsider2k5]

Good column on the usefulness of a national infrastructure plan/bank.

 

Um, bond issue?

[lostfan]

Also go look at Google Earth or Google Maps, and go to Chernobyl, Ukraine and see the nearby inhabited areas - if you zoom down with the satellite view you can see where the trees and other vegetation starting to overtake the roads, and you can see where clumps of trees are starting to crowd out uninhabited houses in certain places.

 

edit: better yet type in "chernobyl atomic energy station" and it'll take you right to it and you can look around in the exclusion zone to see what I was talking about

Edited March 10, 2010 by lostfan

[NorthSideSox72]

I think it just shows that in the wake of ultimate destruction (Chernobyl), nature will not only forget about us, but it will do everything in it's power to wipe any memory of us, too...and in a very short time in the grand scheme of things. I think it's fascinating.

 

This is why I'm never worried about mother nature or the Earth in general. Humans don't care about climate change for the sake of the Earth, they care about it for the sake of themselves. We, as a race, don't like to admit that when the Earth decides to give up on us, there will be nothing we can do about it...and shortly thereafter, it will have forgotten about us all together.

 

I'm sure it calms the fears of many that if you drive a few less miles a year or go "green", you're doing your part and helping...but in the end, one super volcano, one asteroid, or one little virus is going to hit the reset button for the Earth, and then it'll all start over a couple of eons later.

 

I personally find that cool, albeit dark.

I read somewhere recently that they did some survey work around the Trinity Site in New Mexico (site of first atomic bomb detonation), as well as looking at some of the ranch land nearby. The land at the Trinity site is now in substantially healthier condition than the land being grazed by cattle that wasn't nuked.

 

[kapkomet]

Not sure where else to put this...

 

Detroit is falling apart, as everyone knows. And they are now looking into a dramatic idea to help fix the problem (one which I think New Orleans should have done): shrinking. The idea is to turn a quarter of the city - the run-down, hopeless neighborhoods - into green or agricultural space. Thus, they could focus what meager funds they have on fewer neighborhoods, to help them do better.

 

I like it.

 

See Youngstown, OH. They did the same thing.

[iamshack]

See Youngstown, OH. They did the same thing.

Yeah, they are actually referenced in the article.

[StrangeSox]

There was a documentary on Nat Geo or Discovery or something I caught a while back that followed the wildlife resurgence in and around Chernobyl. I think this was it:

 

http://www.offthefence.com/content/program...p;Categories=27

[kapkomet]

Yeah, they are actually referenced in the article.

 

 

 

I didn't read the article... but I remember reading that a while back. It's a good idea and it can raise values enough to where people may want to come back.

[Balta1701]

The Google has added bike paths to Google Maps.

[BigSqwert]

The Google has added bike paths to Google Maps.

Saw that yesterday. Very cool.

[Balta1701]

Saw that yesterday. Very cool.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll use that this summer, I couldn't tell without this service what the best way to bike over the highway was. Wanted to post a note here just to make sure it gets publicized in case anyone else wants to save the gas.

[Balta1701]

This is good and hopefully this settlement isn't reduced by a later court.

A settlement of up to $657.5 million has been reached in the cases of thousands of rescue and cleanup workers at ground zero who sued the city over damage to their health, according to city officials and lawyers for the plaintiffs.

 

They said that the settlement would compensate about 10,000 plaintiffs according to the severity of their illnesses and the level of their exposure to contaminants at the World Trade Center site.

[BigSqwert]

And we can't even master broadband internet. *sigh*

 

China Promotes Its Transcontinental Ambitions with Massive Rail Plan

[Balta1701]

North Dakota's Red River appears primed for it's 4th "10 year flood" in the last 4 years, and 9th since 1989. This time, thanks in part to an unusual early warming/melting.

[StrangeSox]

Simple solution, Balta. Just rename it a one-year flood.

[kapkomet]

The Google has added bike paths to Google Maps.

 

 

For those of you who do biking - is this for recreational, ways to bike to work, or what?

 

And, is the clarity really good? Hell, I guess I should click the link, but I wanted people's take and experiences who've ridden bikes or whatever and the practical uses of this.

 

Okay, I looked, and this is cool. I've even got some to add to the database... wow, look at me.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

For those of you who do biking - is this for recreational, ways to bike to work, or what?

 

And, is the clarity really good? Hell, I guess I should click the link, but I wanted people's take and experiences who've ridden bikes or whatever and the practical uses of this.

 

Okay, I looked, and this is cool. I've even got some to add to the database... wow, look at me.

Looking at the Chicago area, its still pretty limited. It shows some main bike routes on streets, but its not nearly as complete as the map the Chicago Bicycle Federation puts out annually - that shows all the roads that have bike lanes, and other roads that are good for biking, not just the main routes. I'd bet Google will catch up with that eventually.

 

I think it would be a good tool if you aren't already familiar with how to get somewhere, but then once you use their routing, you'd start to adjust for yourself.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

We are now not only behind China, but also effectively behind 10 or more other countries in funding renewable energy technology. I just cannot emphasize enough what a lost opportunity this is becoming.

 

There are just so many hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on economic stimuli of various kinds that are far less likely to get us ahead in the future, and have far less positive future impact in multiple ways... it just makes me ill.

 

[Rex Kickass]

For those of you who do biking - is this for recreational, ways to bike to work, or what?

 

And, is the clarity really good? Hell, I guess I should click the link, but I wanted people's take and experiences who've ridden bikes or whatever and the practical uses of this.

 

Okay, I looked, and this is cool. I've even got some to add to the database... wow, look at me.

 

In New Jersey, its actually pretty poor. Theres a difference between mtn bike paths and acceptable paths for road bikes, and that makes its usefulness for me pretty limited.