Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor Fall 2020 - 3

FROM THE FOUNDER

WHAT A STRANGE AND
UNNERVING SUMMER ITS BEEN
W

hat a hot summer, very hot! It appears
we are on track for 2020 to once again
be the hottest year ever recorded on
earth. This should come as no surprise.
Death Valley National Park in California,
(a state that is currently on fire), recorded
a temperature exceeding 130 F or 54 C,
on August 17. Sixty million Americans are
currently living under a heat warning as
yet another heat wave sweeps across the
continent. The sooner we get serious about
addressing the urban heat island effect in
our cites with green roofs and urban forests
the better.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic, which has
been warming at twice the global rate for
more than 30 years, the last Canadian ice
shelf has collapsed. Did you hear about it?
It was attached to Ellesmere Island and had
an area of 80 square kilometers, larger than
Manhattan. It collapsed in July into the
ocean and disintegrated. This August, an
international team of scientists had more
disturbing news regarding the mother of
all ice in the north - Greenland. In the
year 2019, they reported, Greenland lost a
staggering 532 billion tons of ice, enough
to cover all of California in more than 1
meter of water or to raise the ocean by 1.5
millimeters - in only one year. Apparently,
NASA satellites are able to measure ice
loss accurately from space. The rapidly
accelerating melting of the Greenland
ice sheet spells disaster more quickly for
coastal communities worldwide, many
of which already suffer from increased
flooding during storm surges and high
tides. The potential for economic,
ecological and social losses due to rising

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oceans will dwarf the revenues of fossil fuel
companies and no doubt imperil the global
economic system. Meanwhile far too many
politicians continue to downplay or deny
climate change, or simply turn their backs
on the science altogether. Manufactured
ignorance all too often serves the interests
of those in power, or those who serve
power and are threatened by change.
The blatant disdain and disregard for
science has no doubt been a contributing
factor in the successful spread of the
COVID 19 virus, which as of August
24, has killed more than 800,00 people
worldwide and infected more than 23
million according to John Hopkins Center
for Health Security. Measures to limit
the spread of the virus have exposed long
lasting cracks in our food supply systems,
our social safety net and helped to shine a
spotlight on racism and inequality. GRHC
held a very popular Virtual Symposia
on urban and rooftop food production
in August which is now available on the
Living Architecture Academy. Clearly
the pandemic has demonstrated that we
need to ramp up urban and regional food
production through green infrastructure
as an essential component of resilience
planning.
Across North America, people of color
have suffered disproportionately during the
pandemic, with higher rates of infection
and mortality. Black Lives Matter protests
have been ongoing for months, raising
awareness of systematic racism and gaining
more widespread acceptance. Clearly it's no
longer sufficient to not be a racist. What we
all need is to actively become anti-racist.

In that spirit, in July, GRHC hosted
a symposium about Chicago and invited
Naomi Davis, Founder/Director of
Blacks in Green to speak about green
infrastructure and gentrification. She
delivered a passionate speech, and is now
our guest in On the Roof With in this
issue of the LAM. With the full support
of the board of directors, GRHC has also
established a scholarship fund for youth of
color so that they can access our training
and online events if they wish to pursue a
career in living architecture. It's a start, and
much more will be required in the years
to come to reduce racism and inequality
in our communities. Ongoing leadership,
and a willingness to change are essential
ingredients for success.
Speaking of success, congratulations to
all of the Awards of Excellence Winners
for 2020. We have profiled them and
will be showing their project videos
throughout CitiesAlive Virtual 2020
from October 20 to 23rd. I hope your fall
season will be far less tumultuous than
the summer of 2020 has proven to be, and
invite you to join us for CitiesAlive 2020
to reconnect and rejuvenate.
Sincerely yours,

Steven W. Peck,
GRP, Honorary ASLA
Founder and President

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Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor Fall 2020

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