I’ve wondered out loud here several times about convergence – getting our galloping consumption down in the developed world while simultaneously raising the standard of living for the citizens of developing nations. You can do this a thousand different ways, most of which can “cool” the planet. One critical approach is for developing economies to “leapfrog” their way to clean energy and low-GHG industrial and agricultural production. One other vital thing to do is to reduce the reliance of the OECD nations on high-GHG output in emerging economies. See Northern Consumption Reaches Deep into Other Countries’ Ecologies, for instance, from “SolveClimate.”
So what’s one good thing to do to alter the trajectory of our “high living” Western lifestyle? (“High living” can mean obesity and heart disease, massive pollution, traffic jams, a shocking apathy about nature, among other ills. It doesn’t have to mean these things, but, well …) Lawns may contribute to global warming is the headline from the “Bright Green” blog of the “Christian Science Monitor.” Referring to a study from the University of California, Irvine, we are alerted to some interesting findings. First, over 1.9% of land in the continental US is covered in “turfgrass.” (That’s a term used to describe residential lawn grasses as well as varieties used in sports venues.) But it’s not the lawns themselves that are the problem – it’s the amount of energy, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides that are brought to bear to cultivate these sylvan greenswards. Massive GHG impact? You better believe it.
My favorite environmental writer, Betsy Kolbert, had a blockbuster on this at “The New Yorker” a year and a half ago: Turf War. Here’s another perspective on scale, as Kolbert reports: “Recently, a NASA-funded study, which used satellite data collected by the Department of Defense, determined that, including golf courses, lawns in the United States cover nearly fifty thousand square miles-an area roughly the size of New York State.” (Kolbert also wrote about convergence here.)
How to address this? For one thing, freedom lawns. Even nicer are wildflower meadows. I also reported on sun-reflecting plants here. I love green roofs too.
As I said, there are thousands of ways to get our GHGs down. “‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.“
