James Lovelock first coined the term Gaia, a word that means
viewing the Earth as a single living, breathing organism. A
new scientific trend views the world's biggest cities the same
way. More than half the world's population today lives in
cities, and the world's largest urban areas are growing
rapidly. The number of megacities (metropolitan areas with
populations exceeding 10 million) has grown from just 3 in
1975 to about 20 today.
Researcher Charles Kolb reports that the concept of urban
metabolism has existed for decades. It views large cities as
living entities that consume energy, food, water, and other
raw materials, and release wastes. The releases include
carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas; air pollutants,
sewage and other water pollutants; and even excess heat
that collects in vast expanses of concrete pavement and
stone buildings. Humans directly produce a significant share
of this waste, but emissions from industrial, power generation
and transportation systems respire the largest quantities of
greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. Other urban
metabolizers include sewage systems, landfills, domestic pets
and pests like rats, which in some cities outnumber people.
Kolb says, "Carbon dioxide and other pollutants in megacities
make them immense drivers of climate change. They impact
climate on both a regional and global level because these
long-lived greenhouse gases are dispersed around the world."
One of his biggest concerns is that the most highly polluted
megacities are in developing countries such as Dhaka,
Bangladesh; Cairo, Egypt; and Karachi, Pakistan. Even the
cleanest megacities like Tokyo/Osaka in Japan and New York
City and Los Angeles in the United States, which are all in the
developed world, still have serious problems. The bottom line:
Most cities could be compared to sick people!
If you're sick of YOUR city, come and join us out in the
beautiful
desert on October 16-18 for our magical
Stargate Conference. With Starfire Tor and
William Henry both there, who knows? Some of us
may actually go THROUGH a
stargate!
Art credit: Dreamstime.com
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