Thread View: atl.atlanta
7 messages
7 total messages
Started by William J. Meyerbeck
Sat, 01 Jul 2000 00:00
Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: William J. Meyerbeck
Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2000 00:00
45 lines
3119 bytes
3119 bytes
http://www.foxnews.com/science/063000/weather2_fnc.sml Sweltering Cities Make Their Own Heat June 30, 2000 City dwellers are used to the air pollution, high air-conditioning bills and discomfort of summer in the asphalt jungle. But NASA scientists have now discovered that what many urban residents have long suspected is in fact true - cities suffocate under their own bubble of elevated air temperatures. Scientists call the bubbles "urban heat islands," which are generated by the heat rising off cities' concrete, asphalt, glass and metal surfaces. The sun bakes and sizzles the man-made surfaces all day. When night falls, the surfaces release all that stored energy like a balloon into the atmosphere. The bubbles, scientists say, are influencing naturally-occurring weather patterns and creating their own weather systems. One of the most extreme examples of this man-made weather is Atlanta - or Hot-Lanta, as residents call it - according to NASA scientist Dr. Jeff Luvall. "The city of Atlanta is actually affecting the climate downwind from the city," Luvall said. "We're seeing rainfall which is directly attributed to the local climate." Using satellite technology and special heat sensors, NASA teams mapped the hot spots, checking the Atlanta heat island's effect on weather and people. They found the haze and heat bubbles sizzling the urban atmosphere posed serious health dangers. "In cities, if their added effect is 10 degrees Fahrenheit, that adds a whole lot of stress to the human body," said Dr. Dale Quattrochi, a global hydrologist with NASA. Stress from heat can be deadly. Last year, nearly 500 people died from heat related deaths. In the 1990s, intense heat claimed more lives than hurricanes, floods and tornados. However, one of the best ways to cool things down is to plant more trees, an option that many city dwellers are embracing. Using light colored roofs or planting rooftop gardens are other options. In fact, replacing asphalt surfaces with concrete is also a remedy. Whatever the solution, experts are racing to develop new ways to beat the city heat. Forecasters predict that 80 percent of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2025. - FOX News' Kris Osborn contributed to this report
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: Stanley Cline
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
15 lines
1594 bytes
1594 bytes
On Sat, 1 Jul 2000 12:53:33 -0400, "William J. Meyerbeck" <meyerbeck@softhome.net> wrote: >However, one of the best ways to cool things down is to plant more trees, an >option that many city dwellers are embracing. Using light colored roofs or Atlanta's already one of the most tree-d cities in the US. Where are more trees going to go? -SC -- Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ ... "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: Sporkman
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
17 lines
1946 bytes
1946 bytes
Stanley Cline wrote: > Atlanta's already one of the most tree-d cities in the US. Where are > more trees going to go? > > -SC This is perhaps not so much a question of planting more trees as it is of whether or not we are going to continue to allow clear cutting by developers for new shopping plazas and subdivisions. Developers all over the metro area are cutting all trees down when they don't need to do that, and the practice is rampant even where there are ordinances controlling it. We need legislation with TEETH that will require developers to spare a percentage of trees per DEVELOPED acreage, even when the eventual goal is a parking lot. In the absence of such legislation I would go so far as to urge people to read and understand an entertaining book named "The Monkey Wrench Gang" (ISBN #038071339X or #038000741X -- different publishers) by Edward Abbey.
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: Christopher Rake
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
14 lines
1369 bytes
1369 bytes
>controlling it. We need legislation with TEETH that will require >developers to spare a percentage of trees per DEVELOPED acreage, even Heh - Sounds like Atlanta needs to do what Austin (Tx) does - charge the developers for every tree cut. However, Atlanta has something like 30 different governing bodies in the Metro area... and how many of those organizations talk to each other? +Chris -- This is my .signature
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: eric pearson
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2000 00:00
20 lines
1705 bytes
1705 bytes
In Atlanta, the gov orgs do not even talk to each other. In my 51+ yrs I have never encountered a less competent government than the City of Atlanta (and that includes Louin, MS pop (at the time) <100.) regards, eric pearson db2eric@nospammindspring.com On 2 Jul 2000 21:39:22 -0400, zync@angband.org (Christopher Rake) wrote: >>controlling it. We need legislation with TEETH that will require >>developers to spare a percentage of trees per DEVELOPED acreage, even > >Heh - Sounds like Atlanta needs to do what Austin (Tx) does - charge the >developers for every tree cut. However, Atlanta has something like 30 >different governing bodies in the Metro area... and how many of those >organizations talk to each other? > >+Chris
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: Lloyd R. Parker
Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2000 00:00
12 lines
1481 bytes
1481 bytes
Stanley Cline (sc1@roamer1.org) wrote: : On Sat, 1 Jul 2000 12:53:33 -0400, "William J. Meyerbeck" : <meyerbeck@softhome.net> wrote: : : >However, one of the best ways to cool things down is to plant more trees, an : >option that many city dwellers are embracing. Using light colored roofs or : : Atlanta's already one of the most tree-d cities in the US. Where are : more trees going to go? Actually, Atlanta has lost a huge fraction of the urban forest it had as recently as 25 years ago. Look at aerial photos.
Re: Article About Atlanta Weather Getting Hotter
Author: The Sanity Inspector
Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 00:00
Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 00:00
13 lines
1297 bytes
1297 bytes
On 3 Jul 2000 14:05:18 -0400, lparker@emory.edu (Lloyd R. Parker) shared with usenet this thought: >Actually, Atlanta has lost a huge fraction of the urban forest it had as >recently as 25 years ago. Look at aerial photos. Yep. Cutting down the shade trees and replacing them with red Japanese sugar maples isn't much of a conservation effort. -- bruce The dignified don't even enter in the game. --The Jam
Thread Navigation
This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.
Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.
Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.
Back to All Threads