Cities can foster a low carbon economy and to do so we have to design cities to be eco-friendly and power cities in less harmful methods like fossil fuels.
Hyesh Taylor
According to the 2018 article “From Bottleneck to Breakthrough” by Sanderson et al., human activity significantly changed the natural environment and climate after the 1940s. To begin with, human consumption of natural resources releases carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This prevents sun rays from radiating back into space, ultimately increasing Earth's overall temperature. A majority of carbon emissions are a result of factories or power stations that burn fossil fuels to generate energy. These factories and power plants are typically located in cities, hence leading to the common assumption that cities are detrimental to the environment. Former President of Estonia Lennart Meri once said, “Science will liberate us from the chains of big cities and lead us back to nature”. On the contrary, many of the chains of big cities are not characteristics immanent to cities.
For example, high carbon emissions are a part of many cities due to the infrastructure, not inherently. In order to decrese carbon emissions and avoid coastal flooding, there should be a widespread movement to reconstruct the way cities are organized and run to essentially sustain the Earth.
Overall, infrastructures of cities should be designed to occupy high population density except on the coasts; coasts should not have many infrastructures on them. The presence of too many infrastructures on the coasts increases coastal erosion. Cities should use energy sources other than those that produce carbon emissions. We will also be taking a deeper dive into the impact of rising sea levels and coastal erosion, a direct result of the high amount of carbon emissions produced since the 1940s to the 21st century. Cities should foster a low carbon economy.
The infrastructure of cities can foster a low carbon economy if cities are designed to accommodate a high population density. Population density is an aspect of the infrastructure of a city that will significantly impact the amount of carbon emissions released. An evaluation of New York’s population density, transit systems, and electrical production industry demonstrates how cities’ infrastructure can limit carbon emissions. New York City is a perfect example of how inland population density can be beneficial for the environment. Yet, New York’s high coastal population density is detrimental for the environment. Not only are there buildings for residential and commercial use, but there are also groins, breakwaters, and artificial reefs which are in-water structures and seawalls, revetments, and bulkheads which are on-shore structures. The purpose of in-water and on-shore structures is to prevent coastal erosion. However, information released on the New York Governor’s website argues another point: “...Structures intended to prevent erosion may in fact increase it” (62). New York should not implement rules and regulations that scientists cannot guarantee will be beneficial for coasts in the long run. Politicians of New York have tried to change the energy production industry, encouraging them to reduce their average carbon emissions output by changing the way carbon is sourced. Concentration of the population distribution of people within a city is vital in minimizing carbon output.
David Owens discusses that there should be a different approach in how the nature of the city is discussed. In his article “Green Manhattan: Everywhere Should Be More Like New York,” Owens stresses that when most Americans think about nature, “they picture wild, unspoiled landscapes” (418) like rainforests or jungles.
Many people believe that humans can’t coexist with nature because we heavily depend on the Earth’s resources. In reality, there are a variety of ways humans can have a mutualistic relationship with nature and maintain sustainability.
Besides advocating for a low carbon economy, changes should be made in the way individuals view interactions between modern cities and nature. Cities are urban ecosystems, which present a complex relationship between animal life, plant life, humans, the atmosphere, and infrastructure. When we discuss New York City's attractions, we should not only mention the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, but the city’s natural landmarks as well. Once we become more aware of the beauty and importance of parks like Central Park, Bryant Park, and Prospect Park, greater efforts to preserve these parks and keep them regulated will ensue.
In order to further the discussion on carbon emissions, we must first understand what a carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds that are emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels per person. The carbon footprint in cities like New York are typically lower since people here are more likely to use public transportation to access “cultural, commercial, and other offerings” (417) like libraries, theaters, and businesses compared to people in suburban and rural areas. Owens goes on to support this theory by comparing his family's electricity consumption in New York City to a suburban town in Connecticut. In New York City, his family’s energy consumption was “roughly four thousand kilowatt-hours a year,” while his energy consumption in Connecticut was approximately seven times greater at “almost thirty thousand kilowatt-hours in 2003”. Owens's discovery that New York City has a lower carbon footprint per capita than many other rural and suburban areas helped to pioneer the discussion of how the city could be good for the environment.
Increased carbon footprints in turn impact coastal erosion. Coastal erosion decreases access to clean water. Coastal erosion is when the sediment of the shoreline is permanently removed, and the shoreline starts to recede further inland, leaving us with less clean water. Estuaries are a part of the coast. “Estuaries are partially enclosed bodies of water, where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean” (1) according to Katherine Phillip’s article “Vulnerable estuaries: Where land, sea and pollution meet.” Many estuaries are on the coast, and they filter the pollutants, such as herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, excess nutrients, and sediments in the water. Coastal erosion decreases estuaries’ ability to filter pollutants so we should make it a mission to not perpetuate coast erosion since the coast provides essential services for us. According to the article, “Coastal Erosion” posted on the New York governor’s website, “GIS analysis shows approximately 1,428 acres and roughly 135 buildings and other structures located within New York City’s Coastal Erosion Hazard Areas” (61). The coastal erosion hazard areas are Coney Island (Brooklyn), Rockaway Peninsula (Queens), and the southern shore of Long Island. When structures are built on the coast, the runoff of sediment is increased, but when more sediment is lost, the coasts recede further. Since estuaries help filter the water humans rely on, humans should protect them by helping to decrease coastal erosion.
While the coast is highly developed, city planners have developed structures like seawalls, revetments, bulkheads, groins, breakwaters, and artificial reefs to prevent erosion. Seawalls, revetments, and bulkheads are on-shore structures while groins, breakwaters, and artificial reefs are in-water structures. Both types of structures prevent soil erosion and reduce energy generated by waves from the coast. They are able to reduce wind and waves, which in turn decrease coastal erosion because wind and waves move sediment from one location to another. The city has many structures to reduce coastal erosion; for example, the Rockaway Peninsula has groins constructed along the coasts that were built from 1992 to 1997 (63). City planners may also prevent coastal erosion by using beach nourishment, vegetated islands, constructed wetlands, and living shorelines, which are all a set of protective features the article refers to as environmental controls. The on-shore and in-water structures should not be a focus of helping sustainability; the state should primarily be focused on decreasing the density on the coasts to prevent coastal erosion. The coastal structure's ability to reduce coastal erosion is unclear, but scientists are certain coastal density exacerbates coastal erosion.
Scientists believe coastal erosion will increase significantly in 2050 if humans continue to emit the same rate of carbon emissions. According to Climate Central, “As a result of heat-trapping pollution from human activities, rising sea levels could within three decades push chronic floods higher than land currently home to 300 million people.” The predicted flooding is due to the global elevated levels of carbon emission release that excessively increased in the 1940s. The elevated carbon emissions released from the 1940s to 2021 have raised the global temperatures by 1 degree Celsius. In 2050, the global temperature is expected to rise by an alarming 1.5 degrees Celsius. The sea levels increased in the past due to the rise in temperature; however, 0.5 degree Celsius more is expected to bring unprecedented sea levels and coastal erosion worldwide. Neither the coastal structures nor the environmental controls that are in place as of 2021 are sufficient enough to prevent flooding.
In New York City, three coasts: Brooklyn’s Coney Island, Queens’ Rockaway Peninsula, and the southern shore of Long Island are identified by the article “NYC’s Risk landscape” by NYC Emergency Management to be the most vulnerable to the expected sea level rise. These NYC coasts are especially at risk because they are exposed to wave action by the Atlantic Ocean. The sea levels of New York have risen “1.1 feet since the 1990s and are projected to rise an additional 2.5 feet by 2050” (NYC Emergency Management 62). The changes in the environment that will result from higher sea levels will impact New York City’s population and wildlife. By 2050, scientists expect there will be less access to clean water, destruction of coastal property, basement looding near the coasts, and short-term subway inconveniences. In addition, unclean water will affect animals and plants, excessive nitrogen will be released into the ecosystem, and the habitats of endangered species will disappear.
Rising sea levels that are anticipated to result in major flooding by 2050 will decrease Long Island’s ability to receive clean water. Referring to “New York Coastal Resilience,” an article published by Coastal Resilience, the sewage and water systems will be hit significantly because they were designed to accommodate a particular surface water level. Rising sea levels will increase surface water levels and cause sewage water and groundwater to mix. When sewage water and groundwater mix, it can contaminate aquifers, where people get their drinking water from. Not only that, but the rising sea level will also cause the saltwater and drinking water to mix. The Long Island Aquifer will no longer be able to provide consumable water because the sea water will flow underground and “seep through pore spaces in the soils or rock features” (2) of the Aquifer.
In addition, the rising sea levels will provide a “loss of coastal habitats {which} also means a reduction in the significant protective value provided for people” (2). In other words, many parts of the coastal habitat will not be able to function properly as they did before the rise. Future rising sea levels will destroy the coastal property because flooding can “undermine foundations, resulting in structural failure or collapse” (Coastal Erosion 61). Coastal property is in jeopardy, but since it is profitable, New York “continues to make buildings in coastal areas both... legally and economically feasible” (4). Lastly, basement floodings on coastal property will result from the increased sea levels and can significantly impact the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. If carbon emissions are produced at the same rate that it has since the 1940s, there will be excessive coastal erosion that will affect the way we receive clean water, use transportation, and inhabit the coasts.
New York City’s politicians have devised plans to protect the city against expected flooding. The city is on the coast and many scientists predict that New York City will be flooded unless the city takes immediate measures. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed to extend the coasts of Lower Manhattan by at least 400 feet in order to prevent the flooding, announcing that construction of the coastal extension would start in 2021. He also proposed to extend the coast of the financial districts of Lower Manhattan; however, this will not solve the coastal sustainability issue. Coastal extension will not significantly increase coastal sustainability but decreasing carbon emissions will. As mentioned previously, carbon emissions make the climate increase in temperature. Since more heat rays get absorbed into the Earth’s core, the heating of the Earth causes glaciers to melt and oceans to warm and expand, ultimately elevating sea levels. To increase long term sustainability, laws should be passed to implement methods of clean energy production. Such laws would be more beneficial.
Other plans aim to change energy production. The previous governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed off on Senate Bill S6599, which is the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CCPA). This bill presents a positive way in which humans can interact with the environment. The objective of the bill is to “establish a renewable energy program designed to achieve a minimum of 70 percent of statewide electric generation be secured by renewable energy systems by 2030”. Even though New York City has a low carbon footprint per capita, the amount of carbon emissions from New York City is still high. However, the bill does not include the energy production that is not generated within the state. Politicians should consider the carbon output of energy that is not created in New York. Politicians of New York should conceive ways to decrease the carbon emissions of energy produced in the state and out-of-state.
Furthermore, the article “Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change'' claims that community-scale energy distribution systems should use cogenerated electrical systems because they “operate at around 90 percent efficiency whereas standard power plants average only 40 percent” (Calthorpe 521). Cogenerated electrical systems recapture heat that is lost as waste heat, which equates to about two thirds of energy production. Cogenerated electrical systems provide district heating, cooling, and power to the plant. They are not required in New York buildings; rather the government has incentive programs for those who install them. The government should require co-generation electric systems and offer tax credits as well as ways to cover costs. Likewise, climate responsive buildings should also be implemented in New York City. These are edifices that provide heat when the weather is cold but reflect heat when the weather is warm. Peter Calthorpe claims there should be “elegant solutions based on conservation before we introduce complex technology, even if it is green” (520). Climate responsive buildings are a solution based on conservation. Conservation technologies should be added to buildings.
New York City’s infrastructure has contributed to a low carbon footprint, increased land density, and to a lesser extent, decreased coastal density. Other places can be recreated to foster a low carbon economy using knowledge about what New York has done correctly and incorrectly. The current rise in sea levels presents an exigency for cities to decrease carbon emissions, use more sustainable resources, and prepare for foreseeable consequences like the reduction of drinking water. Moreover, nature is interconnected. Cities affect the world climate, and the climate can also affect the people and cities. Sustainability is a term that expresses Earth’s relationship to humans. Humans are dependent on the Earth. Even though humans can affect nature, nature does not need humans to survive. Earth is also the most hospitable planet for humans to live on. Sustainability practices promote an environment for Earth to continue to survive.
References
1..Calthorpe, Peter. “Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change.” The City Reader, edited by Richard T. Lee Gates and Federic Stout, San Francisco, CA& Sanford, CA, Routledge, edition 6, 2016. pp.511-524.
2. Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Emissions in 2017”. https://nyc-ghg-inventory.cusp.nyu.edu/#data. Accessed February 26th, 2020.
3. “New York - State Energy Profile Analysis.” U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 17 Sept. 2020, www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=NY#:%7E:text=New%20York%20depends%20on%20natural,provided%20most%20of%20the%20rest.
4. “New York.” Coastal Resilience. https://coastalresilience.org/project/new-york/. Accessed April 6th, 2020.
5. “Ny State Senate Bill S6599.” NY State Senate, 18 July 2019, https://www.nysenate.gov/ legislation/bills/2019/s6599.
6..Owens, David. “Green Manhattan.” The City Reader, edited by Richard T. Lee Gates and Federic Stout, San Francisco, CA& Sanford, CA, Routledge, edition 6, 2016, pp. 414- 421.
7..Phillips, Katherine. Columnist. “Vulnerable Estuaries: Where Land, Sea and Pollution Meet.” The Daily Times, Salisbury-Unknown, 20 Sept. 2016, https://www.delmarv anow.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/09/20/coastal-pollution-estuaries-water/90700802/.
8..Sanderson et al. “From Bottleneck to Breakthrough: Urbanization and the Future of Biodiversity Conservation.” Bioscience, vol. 68, Issue 6, June 2018, pp. 412–426. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy039. Accessed February 26th, 2020.
9. Solnit, Rebecca, and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro. Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. First, University of California Press, 2016.
10..United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2019”. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/file s/2021-02/documents/us-ghg-inventory-2021-main-text.pdf. Accessed February 26th, 2020.
11. NYC Emergency Management. “NYC’s Risk Landscape: A Guide to Hazard Mitigation”. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/em/ downloads /pdf/hazard_mitigation/nycs_risk_landscape_chapter_4.2_coastalerosion.pdf.
12. World Commission on Towards Sustainable Development. “Toward Sustainable Development.” The City Reader, edited by Richard T. Lee Gates and Federic Stout, San Francisco, CA& Sanford, CA, Routledge, edition 6, 2016. pp.404-409.
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