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Invasive Species

 With the increase in global transportation and consumer goods, there has been an increase in invasive species. An invasive species is one that gets transported from one place to another either through man-made or accidental, the species takes over the area and can create mono-cultures. In an urban area with already limited biodiversity, an invasive species coming to the area can create many issues on many different fronts. Invasive species should be removed and replaced with native species.  Not only do these species create many issues with the plant life in their respective cities; these species can be detrimental to the economy, there is a higher cost on pesticides, greater risk to human health, and increased risk to ecological damage. In an article published by the National Wildlife Federation , "The impacts on an invasive species on our natural ecosystems and economy cost billions of dollars each year. Many of our commercial, agricultural, and recreational activities depe...
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Green Infrastructure

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All throughout major cities there is a major lack of one thing- nature. Regardless of what metropolitan jungle you call home, one cannot deny the lack of green space scattered around. In more recent years there has been more focus on incorporating green areas around a city to increase, oxygen, help combat urban heat islands, and an over-all a mental health benefit.  In the recent few years urban developers have been looking more to include green infrastructure into city spaces. For example in the city of Philadelphia there is a plan set in place, over the next 25 years, close to $1.2 billion to incorporate more concrete tunnels to move water. With this set in place it is estimated to reduce carbon dioxide by 1.5 billion pounds of emission a year, stated as compared to removing approximately 3,400 vehicles from the roads. (Professional Practice). Not only will this help the environment this will also boost the economy with an influx of jobs to help create this green solution. The ci...
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Urban Cool Islands

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 As we all know, global warming is happening quickly and new phenomenon's have began to erupt from such. One of those being Urban Cool Islands (UCI) - defined by IGI GLOBAL as "cooler urban areas compared to non-urban/rural surroundings." This is a sensation that occurs in arid areas with little vegetation in the countryside outside the city due to the urban area itself having a lower temperature. This is not a very common theme among urban areas as they are usually much hotter than their respective rural areas due to emissions from buildings, industries, transportation, and just the high population of people. In various cities around the world have been addressing this concern, in France for example, "discussed procedures with urban planners and investors in the aim of incorporating a set of reasonable measures for local climate adaptation in a particular new urban area" (ScienceDirect). If you were to look at an area like Phoenix, Arizona, an extremely urban a...
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