Cool Cities (SDSJ)

Global warming is an issue that the entire world is considered about. Earth and environmental issues like rising in population and increasing in the amount of CO2 have happened since the start of the industrial revolution, what have been some of the problems associated with economic development. If we don’t solve the global warming problem, we will need a new planet to replace ours. If we want to live within the capacity of a single earth, we will have to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the air by one half. In Japan during the last 30 years GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has gone up double percent while energy efficiency has increased 37% percent and oil consumption has decreased 8% percent. 90% of the CO2 that are sent in the air come from the buildings and transportations like cars. Courtiers have created cities that are trying to reduce the CO2. Those cities are called cool cities. A cool city is a city that was built to reduce the CO2 emission and help with the global warming problem. It is built by JDSJ; it is a company from Japan. There are several types of transportation in the city. There is Monorail to transport people between cities, LRT, hybrid cars and solar ships inside the city. The city is divided into several zones there are business/public zone, residential zone, culture/sport zone and resort zone. There are some techniques that will reduce heat in the city like putting an abundant of trees and water, natural breezes. In the city, there are two types of buildings. The expected CO2 reductions for the two types of buildings are 80%. The overall percentage of reduction of CO2 emissions claimed in the video is 60%.

Conclusion ( The Last Post )

In this article, the author, Johann Hari says that people's actions toward global warming are useless. Actions are meant to be the small things that are supposed to decrease the CO2 emissions and eventually, reduce the global warming like switching to fluorescent light bulb, reducing the amount of travels, using alternative mean of transportations like bicycles and many more. The author states that most of the effective actions toward global warming are supposed to be from the government, not the people. As he said, the people influence is not so much, we need the government to interfere and take big actions to solve this problem. The people are important but not as the government. As people, we must support and donate to the green foundations because they are capable of doing something with the help of the government. Foundations like Green Peace or Friends of The Earth or Plane Stupid can definitely force the government to do something against this issue like what happened in London.

In my opinion, it is an interesting topic of discussion, but I disagree with the author. He says that people actions are not as effective as the government's. I think that is wrong. People can come together and cooperate with each other to reduce the CO2 level in the atmosphere. If people from China, the USA, the UAE, France and all over the world come to an agreement, we would, with out a doubt, reduce global warming. That doesn't mean that governments should stay out of it. They should do something but people can do something too.

One Planet Living

If everyone lived like an average North American we would need 5 planets.

If everyone lived like an average European we would need 3 planets.

If everyone lived like an average Emirati we would need 7 planets.

Our global footprint grew by 150% between 1961 and 2003. It is now 25% above the planet's biological capacity to support life on earth.

The WWF has developed an initiative called One Planet Living. It has ten guiding principles.

Masdar is going to be developed using these principles:

Zero Carbon: As a result of the increasing rate of CO2, our climate is changing.
Zero Waste: Products that are thrown away creates wastes and those wastes can create disposal problems and wastes valuable resources.
Sustainable Transport: When people travel by air or car, it participates in climate change and noise pollution.
Local and Sustainable Materials: The usage of destructive resources can escalate environmental damage.

Local and sustainable food: Unknown food quality and the harms of local system are all produced by the industrial agriculture.

Sustainable Water: Because of the pollution and the disruption of hydrological cycles, local resources of fresh water are not enough.

Natural Habitats and wildlife: the over usage of natural supplies and the development of some natural locations have lost biodiversity.

Culture and heritage: As a result of globalization, local culture and heritage is being lost.

Equity and fair trade: Some people are living in poverty while some people can’t meet their basic needs.

Health and happiness: As a result of the increasing depart of wealth, health and happiness, questions are being raised.


I think that Masdar City will find difficulties in having a zero carbon.
The benefits and goals of the one planet living is:
1. “Build a world-wide network of One Planet Living Communities and other exemplary projects to demonstrate One Planet Living in action.”

2. “Establish One Planet Living Centres in each One Planet Living community as a focus for education.”

3. “Promote the imperative for One Planet Living and its guiding principles to catalyse change with governments, business and individuals

My Carbon Footprint

Nowadays people are living in this world with a comfortable life without even thinking about what they are doing to this planet. There is a very serious issue that can put an end to our world which is global warming. Global warming is measured by how big is our carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is "measure of humanity's impact on the earth's climate through activities that emit greenhouse gases". I am now living as there is 3.68 planets to live in. I'm going to talk about this problem and suggest some solutions to solve this issue.

First I will start with the problems. The First problem which is one of the main problems is that we are using things without recycling it. By not recycling, we are making bigger and bigger carbon footprint which makes global warming worst. Some items that are not recycled such as papers and plastic bottles. The second problem is that we consume petrol a lot which sends CO2 to the air. We are using petrol in many things such as cars to move from a place to another and using petrol to generate electricity for our cities. This leads to a big carbon footprint. The last problem is that we are using so much energy which can leave behind big carbon foot print.

However, there are also solutions for any problem. The first solution for this issue is to reduce energy consumption. People can reduce using cars and they can change their lifestyle and use the busses as an alternative of cars. The second solution is to use alternative sources of energy and reduce the consumption of using petrol. There are other sources of energy like solar energy and wind energy. The last possible solution is to make people know about Global warming. By using advertisement and newspaper people will be more aware about this issue and show them the bad side effects.
In conclusion we have put an end to this problem and if the people use these solutions we will avoid the bad effect of it. The solutions are easy and simple but people must cooperate to put them in actions so that they can reduce their carbon footprint.

Why I would like to live in Masdar city.

Nowadays people are searching for a place that has low emission and low pollution where they can live a healthy and a green life. One of those places that have those conditions is Masdar city which is located in Abu Dhabi. In my opinion, i would like to live in Masder city, because in this city there are no cars that sends out emission, all the city will work by using alternative energies such as solar energy and wind energy. In this city there will be zero waste and zero carbon which will make my life much healthier and better. In addition, i will be able to actually breath fresh air without having to smell smoke. If the city is built with the specifications that were said it will have. I will buy a house right now!!!

Is Abu Dhabi a Cool City?

I agree with my friend Obaid. Abu Dhabi is not yet a cool city but it is on the right track and as a proof, Abu Dhabi is pioneering a carbon free city. It is Masdar city. I think you should consider opening a store for alternatives as my friend Obaid said. It is a very good idea and will raise the awareness in the city.

American Cool Cities

There are many American cities that became "Cool Cities". I will state 10 American cities that became cool cities and what they are doing to reduce their carbon foot prints. The cities are:

1. Seattle: They reduced global warming pollution by more than 60 percent by constructing green buildings and operating alternative fuel vehicles.

2. Washington DC: DC has replaced 414 of its polluting diesel buses with buses that burn natural gases.

3. Houston: convert a substantial portion of the city of fleet of cars and trucks.

4. Marion County/Florida: they use gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

5. The city of Scottsdale: has introduced Arizona’s first green building program which helps builders and home owners learn about how to integrate energy efficiency and water saving.

6. Salt Lake City: they changed 861 traffic lights to LED light signals.

7. Colorado: is working to produce 50 percent of the city electricity with renewable energy by 2017.

8. Charlotte: they switched from a gas only Ford Taurus to a hybrid Toyota Prius or Honda Civic and that would save city taxpayers approximately $800-1200 per vehicle including over $400 in annual fuel cost.

9. Twin Falls/ Idaho: Reduce energy cost and cut pollution by increasing the energy efficiency of its 11 schools.

10. St. Paul: they use a system that uses heat drawn from a biomass-fired power plant.