“New Map Shows Measuring Carbon in Amazon Is Feasible - New York Times” plus 2 more |
- New Map Shows Measuring Carbon in Amazon Is Feasible - New York Times
- Forget GPS: Hand-drawn maps still have allure - msnbc.com
- Autumn Season Camping Guide - Associated Content
| New Map Shows Measuring Carbon in Amazon Is Feasible - New York Times Posted: 14 Sep 2010 12:21 PM PDT (Page 2 of 2) "It's a wonderful demonstration of the ability to monitor carbon stocks, which is required to implement policies such as REDD," said Ruth DeFries, an environmental geographer at Columbia University. Having a precise estimate is key to building confidence in REDD programs, agreed Brian Murray, director for Economic Analysis at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. The study found the carbon stock for this region is about a third less than estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC's tier-1 estimates are based on one average number assigned to different biomes and as such, the monetary value of the carbon would be discounted if based on the rough default, Murray said. It was not surprising to many scientists that Asner's more precise calculation was different from the IPCC estimate because there is much greater variability within the region. Even though the amount of stored carbon may end up being lower than initially estimated, having a more accurate estimate means participants in REDD programs would receive full price for carbon. "The barrier to REDD is more along the political dimension than the technical dimension," Murray said. Whether or not REDD ever gets off the ground, Asner said the carbon mapping benefits Peru and other countries. Peru will use this technical information to achieve its goal to protect 135 million acres of forest, as well as guide other land-use decisions, said Doris Rueda, director of land management for the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment. "This technical information helps us better manage our land," Rueda said. "It also generates better information so we can channel public and private investment to different strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change." The Carnegie Institution strives to work with governments and other organizations so its research has real-world applications and benefits. Peruvian scientists trained alongside the research team to learn how to use the mapping method and technology. Peru plans to survey other areas as part of an ongoing partnership with Carnegie. Asner is heading to Colombia and Ecuador next. While the scientists initially work with the host country, the goal is to enable the countries to do the monitoring themselves. Carnegie is offering the carbon analysis method and software for free to noncommercial organizations. "Nobody really has these technologies anywhere," Asner said. "Rather than hold them up north in the U.S., we're trying to develop them and train and give them away at the same time in the host countries." Copyright 2010 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Forget GPS: Hand-drawn maps still have allure - msnbc.com Posted: 14 Sep 2010 11:02 AM PDT BOSTON — As high-tech mapping services such as Garmin, Google and MapQuest make finding directions easier than ever, a new movement has revived interest in maps made by hand, as a route toward personal expression. Ingrid Burrington plotted encounters between strangers in New York City that were noted on the "missed connections" personals section of Craigslist, a website for classified listings. Marilyn Murphy mapped the sites of her stomach injections to treat juvenile arthritis — a practical guide for her next shot as well as a testament to her illness. Scott Schuldt used methods and instruments of old surveyors to chart his rambles in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and plots them in the folksy, primitive scale of strides to the inch. These maps and hundreds of others are featured on the website of the Hand Drawn Map Association, and in a new book, "From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association." The book was compiled by the group's founder, Kris Harzinski. Some maps are drawn by artists, while many are by people whose lives are revealed by the paths they record. "What these maps really do at the end of the day is they tell a story about a place, a very specific story, a single individual's interpretation or knowledge of a place," said Harzinski, a Philadelphia artist and graphic designer. Cartography as art Some of the maps are in an exhibit that opens Sept. 23 at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York. Harzinski and two contributors to the site will also be discussing the project at the New York Public Library on September 15. "There's just been a real surge in interest on the part of contemporary artists in using the concepts of cartography in their work," said Katherine Harmon, curator of the Pratt show and the author of two books on the expressive use of maps. She said the movement has been simmering since the 1960s, when painter Jasper Johns created a smudged, vibrant map of the United States, and has gained rapid momentum in recent years. Harmon believes there is a human "mapping instinct," but she acknowledges the idea is disputed among map experts. Schuldt, a Seattle artist and former Boeing engineer, makes maps to connect more deeply to the world around him. "Making the map forces me to be hyper-aware," he said. "The concept right now is to figure out how to communicate the value and the concept of knowing where you are, as opposed to knowing what your location is." He added that GPS tells your location from a sky-down view. "The thing with (my) making the maps is, it's all done from the ground up," he explained. Schuldt's two contributions to the association are made from hand surveys in Seattle's Discovery and Volunteer parks. He has also used a map of a Washington settler family's berry-picking route as the theme for an embroidered beadwork, complete with handmade copper map case. People still get lost New Yorker Matthew Rodriguez, a marketing professional with a video-game firm and a blogger, frequently sketched maps to get around his East Village neighborhood.
"My friends mocked me," he said, for being a digital professional who lacked a GPS smartphone. He got a smartphone. But when he knows he will be in an area with poor reception, he will map his route on paper. Some maps in Harzinski's collection are fictional. Shane Watt, for example, drew a map of "Empatheia," a megalopolis with mashed-up sections from major cities around the world. The map's theme is a military industrial city of the future, with a Wal-Mart Farms Complex, Hamas Road and State Security Ctr. Other maps are intensely personal, like New Yorker John Hutchinson's map of his route from Manhattan to Brooklyn on Sept. 11, 2001, annotated with his thoughts as he watched the Twin Towers burn, or Chris Collier's "Remembered Map of a Childhood World," in south Cambridgeshire, England. Other maps tell stories. A German couple sent in a map of a house where they had stayed, found chillingly in files kept on them by the former East German Stasi secret police. Harzinski likes maps that reveal the world view of their creator. The first map he collected a North Dakotan's map of the United States, drawn in Glasgow, Scotland in 2000, shows the Midwest well-rendered. But the state lines get shaky farther from home — New York is shown south of Pennsylvania. Fans of hand-drawn maps are marching against the crowd. Tens of millions of GPS devices are in use around the world. But people still get lost. The book includes a contribution from Christian Herr, who sketched on a sugar packet and an old notepad directions home after getting lost in western Pennsylvania using directions from Google Maps. "Google Maps says 3.25 hrs. Real time 5 hrs," he wrote, "to heck with Google Maps." Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Autumn Season Camping Guide - Associated Content Posted: 14 Sep 2010 09:50 AM PDT a. Many maps are available online for free at trail websites. Many offer trials which expire after 30 days but will give an idea of some of the best places for fall camping. b. The east coast offers a wide variety of areas for fall camping. Some of the most notable are in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. These areas offer some of the most beautiful  5. Consider hiring a guide or taking a friend. a. Many would rather take the chance of getting lost rather than hiring a tour guide for a camping trip. However, consider that many wilderness areas have unforeseen dangers that lurk under leaves in the form of snakes (copperheads blend in perfectly with fallen leaves) and cliffs often exist in mountainous areas. Accidents happen because they are simply accidents, if they had been foreseen they would not be an accident. b. At minimum take a friend or relative that is experienced in the woods and forest. If someone was to get hurt the other can get help, having companion to share a camping experience with almost always makes the trip more pleasurable. In conclusion if preparation is made in advance for changing weather conditions, a camera to capture the fall scenery and time is taken to map out the best locations for a fall camping trip, not only will this camping experience be enjoyable, but it will generate memories for years to come. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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