Here in the mid Atlantic states, Earth Day weekend featured rain and wind that canceled many of the outdoor concerts and events. But tomorrow, April 22nd, is officially Earth Day and the skies are looking brighter already. What are your celebration plans, dear Dirt readers? Let us know in the comments!

While you wait for the big day, take the time to read Joel Makower's excellent post on his blog, "Two Steps Forward," where he analyzes the plethora of "green" and sustainable consumer survey results that are now out. "All told, [the surveys] paint a portrait that hasn't changed much over the past twenty years: The public wants to buy green products and support good companies. Of course, what this means — and how to define both 'green' and 'good' — is where the devil meets the eco-details. But there's something slightly different about this year's bumper crop of data. A shred of realism seems to be creeping into the mix."

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

The National Resources Defense Council last week announced the findings from their new analysis of the most recent federal government temperature figures for the American West. The analysis found that  2002-2007 temperatures in the Colorado River basin, an 11-state western region stretching from Wyoming to Mexico, were 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the historical average for the 20th century. The temperature rise was more than twice the global average increase of 1.0 degree during the same period.

The report, co-authored by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO), warns that the current Colorado River drought will not only continue, but also worsen thanks to diminished snowpack and increased chances of prolonged heat waves. About 30 million people in cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas depend on water from the Colorado and its tributaries.

Read the press release and fact sheet [pdf], or the full report [pdf].

 

Not only is April 1 the start of National Landscape Architecture Month, but it's also the day that the "Fossil Foolies Award" winners are announced. The Foolies look to "recognize the world's biggest contributors to our devastating global addition to fossil fuels." The Foolies are organized by the Energy Action Coalition, Co-op America and Rainforest Action Network and feature five different categories: Fossil Fool of the Year, Outstanding Performance in Corporate Greenwashing, Most Inauspicious Newcomer, Lifetime Achievement and Biggest Human Toll. Click through to review the Foolies' rogues' gallery of environmental offenders and vote your conscious. Also check out their interactive map of public global warming education events scheduled for April 1 around the country.
 

Earlier this week Environmental America, a climate change environmental group, released a report that found that in the last 50 years the number of severe rainfalls and heavy snows has grown significantly. The report, "When it Rains, It Pours: Global Warming and the Rising Frequency of Extreme Precipitation in the United States," is available at the group's website. From the New York Times coverage:

"[The report] shows that the number of downpours and heavy snows has increased by 22 percent to 26 percent across the country since 1948. Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont were among the states in which occurrences of severe precipitation have increased more than 50 percent, according to the report. In Oregon and Florida, however, the incidence of extreme rainfall dropped slightly, though in Florida the drop was not statistically significant."

The Dirt is by no means a researcher or statistician, but wonders if the increased population and attendant buildout of suburban areas in the past 50 years has an effect on the accuracy of storm recording and the attendant damage of strong storms.

News from Oslo this morning--Vice President Al Gore, Hon. ASLA, and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for their work raising awareness about man-made global climate change. The group was selected by the Nobel Committee from a field of 181 candidates.

In a statement released this morning, VP Gore said he was honored to receive the Nobel Prize, adding "[The] award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis -- a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years."

The New York Times also reports that "[Gore] said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis."

VP Gore, originally scheduled to be the closing session speaker at ASLA's Annual Meeting, was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting due to a death in his family [third item]. However, he was able to deliver a special message via satellite from Tennessee following ASLA Fellow Lawrence Halprin’s speech.

A new NASA image above (click here to view full-size) depicts how much of the surface area of the United States is covered in fractional turf lawns. As NASA's Earth Observatory states,

The map shows how common lawns are across the country, despite a wide variability of climate and soils. Indeed, the scientists who produced the map estimate that more surface area is devoted to lawns than to any other single irrigated crop in the country. For example, lawns appear to cover more than three times the number of acres that irrigated corn covers.

The site goes on to explain how converting natural landscapes to "human-tailored" ones dramatically changes both water and carbon cycles. The entire Earth Observatory site has great imagery and articles, enough to fill an entire afternoon "researching."

The San Diego Business Journal reports this morning that membership in the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has increased tenfold over the last seven years. This explosive growth has been fueled by the burgeoning "green" movement across the country and around the world. Other interesting bits from the article:

• LEED projects are in all 50 U.S. states and 24 countries.
• Some 986 million square feet of commercial building space is registered or certified in the LEED program. Project types include new construction, existing buildings, commercial interiors, and core and shell — buildings where the owner doesn’t control the interior design. LEED certification for homes and neighborhood developments is now being studied.
• The annual U.S. market in green building products and services was more than $7 billion in 2005, and is expected to increase to $12 billion in 2007.

On the other hand, the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Opinion page throws some cold water on "going green." Columnist Jane Powell's piece "Green Envy" reminds readers that true conservation is more than using the latest technology.  She rails against some of the green movement's darlings, like CFL lightbulbs and triple-glazed windows. Shocking! The long piece is worth the read.

Now this article from the Washington Post is funny, no matter your political stripe:

Senator John Kerry and presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich held a debate yesterday on global warming. Senator Kerry was fully prepared to attack Gingrich's supposed global warming skeptic stance, only to be completely surprised. With his first words at the podium, Gingrich conceded that global warming is real, is contributed to by humans, and must be dealt with actively.

From the article:
The warm and fuzzy Gingrich surprised Kerry, who jettisoned prepared remarks that accused the former speaker of "marching in lock step with the climate-change deniers." Instead, Kerry found himself saying: "I've always enjoyed every dialogue he and I have ever had." He added that "your statement is very, very important" and gushed: "I frankly appreciate the candor."

The debate ended. They shook hands. Kerry put an arm around Gingrich. Gingrich put an arm around Kerry. For a brief but terrifying moment, they appeared to be on the verge of a hug.

[video: Akira Hakuta / Washington Post]

Talking about global warming and climate change can stir up strong debate. People want to shout about it: whether or not it's happening, who or what causes it, and what we can or should do about it. The Dirt believes that the scientific community has spoken loud and clear on the subject.

Ed Mazria, AIA, founder of the Architecture 2030 project, has a post over at the AIA's blog, Archiblog, where he discusses his view that climate change is real and a very serious risk to us all. His piece, "The Carriage Turns into a Pumpkin at 2° C!" has garnered some strong comments from readers and AIA members.

For example:
"...This whole Global Warming thing is a giant hoax!"

and

 "...I believe in 'green' design because I have a reverential respect for nature...not at the suggestion of Al Gore!"

and

"...the 2030 Challenge, and the big 2010 Imparative [sic]: Global Emergency Teach-In are the most relevant efforts that I have seen from AIA in many years. We have fiddled far too long as Rome burns."

The Dirt feels compelled to mention that this discussion has also managed to follow Godwin's Law by the eighth comment.

So what do you think? Is global warming a crisis du jour? Is it our fault? Is it too late? And, perhaps most important, are people too concerned with talking about global warming?

Last month the 2010 Imperative held a "Global Emergency Teach-In" on ways to combat global warming through decreasing carbon emissions. The Teach-In featured these speakers:

Dr. James E. Hansen: the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.

Edward Mazria, AIA: founder of Architecture 2030.

Chris Luebkeman, AIA: Director and leader of Arup’s global Foresight and Innovation initiative.

Susan Szenasy: editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine.

If you missed the Teach-In, worry not. The 2010 Imperative has a great archive of the entire event, including the video of the speeches, .pdfs of the presentations and handouts, and more.