Fw: [Cob] concrete coverage in the US --- dismal news

[Bill&Julie]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill&Julie" <wbates at mn.rr.com>
To: "otherfish" <otherfish at comcast.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Cob] concrete coverage in the US --- dismal news


> ON the OTHER HAND,,,,
>
> Numbers are fun to play with... Here is yet an other one to make us
think...
>
> If you look in your Rand McNally, under the state of Texas. You will find
> that the area is
>
> 261914 square miles. Now if you multiply that by the square feet in a
square
> mile,
>
> you get 7301743257600 . Now if you divide that by the square feet in a
city
> lot of
>
> 150 feet by 50 feet, you get the number of city lots in the state of
Texas.
> Or 973565767.68
>
> Lots....
>
> Now if we were to place 6.162911843437095653819116829529,,, or a little
over
> 6 and 1/8 people per city lot,,, everyone in the world would fit in the
> state of Texas, with no one living anywhere else in the world.....
>
> I'll let you draw your own inferences.
>
>
>
> 3536342 Square Miles is the total area of the United States..
>
> So Texas is a little over 7% of the total area of the United States...
>
>
>
> ô¿ô  bill
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "otherfish" <otherfish at comcast.net>
> To: <coblist at deatech.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:40 PM
> Subject: [Cob] concrete coverage in the US --- dismal news
>
>
> > Thought those of us on the coblist might appreciate this.
> > Not that the implications of the excessive use of concrete comes as any
> > surprise .........  still, food for thought & reinforcing the importance
> of
> > our passion for cob.
> >
> > It's an artivle that was published by the BBC, UK Edition
> >
> > cob on
> > john fordice
> > .........................
> > US concrete 'would cover Ohio'
> >
> > Excessive concrete cover is not good for the environment
> >
> > If all the concrete structures in America's 48 contiguous states were
> added
> > up, they would cover a space almost as big as Ohio, researchers say.
> >
> > Workers from several universities and agencies have put together the
first
> > ever map of the US, which shows "impervious surface areas" (ISA).
> >
> > It is important to tot up concrete cover because of its harmful effect
on
> > the environment, the researchers claim.
> >
> > The work was led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
> >
> > Giant Jigsaw
> >
> > If you made a giant jigsaw out of all the highways, streets, buildings,
> > parking lots and other solid structures in the contiguous states, it
would
> > cover 112,610 sq km (43,480 sq miles). That is an area nearly the size
of
> > Ohio, which is 116,534 sq km (44,994 sq miles).
> >
> > This is far more than a Christmas cracker statistic, the researchers
> claim,
> > because concrete cover - or ISA - is not good for the environment.
> >
> > The replacement of heavily vegetated areas by ISA reduces the depletion
of
> > carbon dioxide, which plants absorb from the atmosphere. This can speed
up
> > global warming.
> >
> > ISAs can also alter the water cycle and disrupt aquatic ecosystems. They
> do
> > this by changing the shape of stream channels, raising water
temperatures
> > and washing pollutants into aquatic environments.
> >
> > Population growth
> >
> > The ISA of the contiguous states is already slightly larger than that of
> its
> > wetlands, which cover 98,460 sq km (38,020 sq miles).
> >
> > The population of the US is increasing by three million a year. Concrete
> > cover is spreading to match.
> >
> > Every year, one million new family homes are built and 20,000 km (10,000
> > miles) of roads are laid.
> >
> > Given these trends, it is likely a lot more will be made of impervious
> > surface areas in the future.
> >
> > The research was part funded by the US space agency (Nasa).
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>