#Environment Engineering

[this-big-field-of-rye-and-all]

Depression is over or am I repressing myself as usually?

[reasonsforhope]

"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterfly.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 4, 2024

[athenaskiddo]

So. I'm an Environmental Engineering searching for a entry level / early career job remote or if with the opportunity of sponsorship to move to another country. So don't doubt if you need me. I'm really commitment with the cause, and working in a place that give me the opportunity to learn and grow professionally and academically that would be great. And all that while we protect the environment of course.

[typhlonectes]

Stop the Army Corps from Draining Thousands of Acres of Wetlands

Yet again, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has resurrected a destructive project in Mississippi's South Delta that would damage at least 90,000 acres of wetlands that support more than 450 species of birds and wildlife. Their “preferred alternative” for the Yazoo Backwater Area Water Management Project is slated to include a massive pump that will drain and damage hemispherically important wetlands.

Urge the Army Corps to abandon this project once and for all. The deadline to comment is August 27.

Note: Your letter will be sent directly to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a public comment period and will become part of the public record.

Photo: Marjie Goldberg/Audubon Photography Awards

Take action here!

[this-big-field-of-rye-and-all]

Other day on planet Earth.

On April 22nd, I have a personal interview for the master's degree, and on April 24th, the admission exam takes place. Please wish me luck.

(Also, wish me luck in finding a job to cover the master's degree fees and move out of my parents' house).

tumblr mutual is becoming a scientific collaborator

[hyperfixatinator]

Have you heard of the show "Undercover Boss"? Where the CEOs of companies disguise themselves as entry level newbies to see what goes on under their noses?

I know the show itself is spiced up for TV drama, but I can definitely imagine this premise in a DPxDC scenario.

Picture Bruce Wayne (or Lucius Fox) disguised as a new hire within the aerospace division of Wayne Enterprises, with young mechanic Danny Fenton showing him around.

[arcadebroke]

link

[floral-frenziez]

EPIC CAVE VID

This was at Penns Cave! I had never done a water cave tour before so this was super fun :) There were trout swimming through the cave too

[this-big-field-of-rye-and-all]

I hate, I really hate how my brain works.

Everything were fine and just for one f*cking comment, everything is a hell now.

[theartofmany]

Artist: Philipp Grote Title: Entrance to the vault

"Second part of the project done for Jama Jurabaev's Unreal Engine 5 course"

[viktuurishipper96]

Princess Douglas of the Island of Sodor.

Aka it’s Douglas but with out the bow hair tie so his hair is longer and flowing like a dream. In the background, there is a pink curtain, columns and a beautiful night sky with stars. Isn’t he beautiful.

Hope you’ll like it. And likes, comments and reblogs are appreciative 😊

stay beautiful

here’s the ref I’ve used

[northgazaupdates]

An open letter from Dr. Tamer Al-Najjar, a professor and consultant in Environmental Engineering in Gaza. Before October 7th, he was a respected and in-demand expert on hydrologic engineering. He describes what his life is like now.

Nothing will Ever be the same Again

It will never be easy at all to return and continue living normally after this war has shattered everything in our hearts, our trust in the world the countries around us, the books, history, strategic plans, and more!!

How should I go back to work as an environmental engineering expert, dealing with climate change and sustainability goals? While all my international memberships couldn’t protect me from the shelling and killing!

How can I participate in conferences and research journals about resource and water supply management in conflict zones? None of it granted me at least the minimal requirements of water as recommended by the WHO.

And how can I continue designing sustainable buildings for clients in Eastern and Western countries and interact with people as if nothing has happened when the entire world has let us down?

A million ‘hows’ I pose, and I find no logical answers for them in this context!!

A million research papers, books, and volumes have been crafted by the West in major international conferences, summits, and meetings about the concepts of international law, human rights, food and water security, green economics, gender equality, environmental project empowerment, and entrepreneurship. In Gaza, we are a part of it, seeking alignment and keeping up with global progress.

Now, all of it has lost its value; all of it is reduced to zero, devoid of meaning altogether. How can it hold any value when I used to train in international projects on strategic planning, sustainable project management, and gender equality in many subjects and do research on water and food security, among other topics? I now only seek survival. Just survival!

It has become futile, with no purpose left. This is our new reality.

Dr. TAMER M. ALNAJJAR / GAZA / NOV. 4,2023

＠najjart_1

Source: Tamer Al-Najjar on Instagram

You can find Dr. Al-Najjar on Instagram and Twitter/X at “najjart_1”

[pygmypouter]

assignmence

[mindblowingscience]

Scientists have uncovered a new source of hazardous "forever chemical" pollution: the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries found in most electric vehicles. Some lithium-ion battery technologies use a class of PFAS chemicals, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, that helps make batteries less flammable and conduct electricity. Scientists found high levels of these PFAS in air, water, snow, soil, and sediment samples near plants that make those chemicals in the US, Belgium, and France, according to a peer-reviewed study in the journal Nature Communications.

Continue Reading.

[charles-leclerc-official]

Ferrari seem like they are planning to restructure their engineering team. Source.

The restructuring of the engineering department at Ferrari taking things in a more modernized direction copying a system similar to Mclaren is probably the best direction the team can take. No single head technical officer, instead a team of 3-4 engineers who can have an open collaborative environment.

We have been wanting to see the team modernize in their approach and it seems that they have been thinking similar things. Something has to change. And with all the talk around Newey that wasn't really going to be a change. That was going to be bringing in an engineer to the same team structure (I already talked about why I don't think Newey would work at Ferrari and why it made sense they didn't try harder for him)

Centering your entire technical team around one man and his ideas is great, and it works when it works, but it can leave a team vulnerable if that man is wrong (humans tend to be wrong from time to time) or leaves. Look at how quickly Red Bull has been collapsing after only losing a few key personnel. They built their success as a team around his aerodynamics, and look how quickly it crumbles when he leaves or gets ignored(and thus is one of the reasons he left)

People really panned Ferrari saying they "fumbled Newey" and that he was the only way they'd be able to bring the team back. When I strongly disagree. We need a complete team, not one person. And we also need new ideas, and a structure that will serve the team long term. Newey is one man who would eventually retire and where would that leave Ferrari? Back at square one.

Having a multi headed team will allow for more ideas and cross examination to happen and likely create a much stronger engineering team and structure for the long term of the team.

If this is the direction Ferrari are taking things then I am feeling more optimistic because I have been wanting to see a change like this for a while.