Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource

this examination of shade's critical role as a temporary lifeline in the face of a global climate disaster considers the many and considerable obstacles in the way of even the partial stoppage proposed and continuously advocated for by climate scientists and activists around the world. the larger world's (and particularly america's) dependence on cars as the primary means of transportation reduces the amount of land that can be allocated to healthier and sustainable modes of community life. architecture around the world has adapted to climate change as much as it can—given capital-based restrictions—and clearly, urban design must center environmental sustainability as one of the primary factors to be considered from the very start show more of planning and production. all environmental writings are pretty pessimistic because they highlight effectively irreversible actions being taken by governments and private companies that can only be countered by drastic collective lifestyle changes, which seem further and further away in the realm of possibility, given everyone's learned helplessness in light of modern inventions like air conditioning and other unsustainable yet comfortable pacifiers. it'll take selflessness and an open-mindedness to the prospect of adaptation in order for the value of shade as a climate change stoppage measure to be materialized. show less