I feel I should point out, wrt talk of the environmental implications of AI, not all of them are created equal.
Like, it is very true that Dall-E 3 and Chat-GPT require huge buckets of water for the servers they use to function, due to a consequence of both how they work and also them being proprietary and thusly them only being allowed to run on those serverse.
But, on the other hand, while the training of the original model takes a lot of power, after that original training, Stablediffusion can literally be run on a mid-grade gaming PC with no connection to the internet by virtue of being Open source.
There are layers of nuance to the environmental impact side is what I'm saying. The jury's still out on Midjourney BTW, because it's not been Open Sourced yet, though there are plans to do that after the lawsuit...
Been seeing a lot of pop-sci articles about Berberine being "natural Ozembic" for weight loss or whatever, but do people realize that most plant-based sources of the supplement are either endangered/threatened (Goldenseal, Phellodendron and Oregon grape) in their native ranges or invasive when grown elsewhere (a lot of the sub-species of Barberry) and that increased demand is going to put ecological pressure on these already vulnerable plants?
Every major component of a downsizer’s lifestyle is influenced, including food, transportation, and consumption of goods and services.
My research identified more than 100 behaviors that changed after downsizing to a tiny home. Approximately 86 percent had a positive impact, while the rest were negative.
Some choices, such as harvesting rainwater, adopting a capsule wardrobe approach and carpooling, reduced individual environmental impacts. Others could potentially expand people’s footprints—for example, traveling more and eating out more often.
A handful of negative behaviors were not representative of all participants in the study, but still are important to discuss. For instance, some participants drove longer distances after moving to rural areas where their tiny homes could be parked. Others ate out more often because they had smaller kitchens, or recycled less because they lacked space to store recyclables and had less access to curbside recycling services.
It is important to identify these behaviors in order to understand potential negative implications of tiny home living and enable designers to address them. It is also important to note that some behaviors I recorded could have been influenced by factors other than downsizing to a tiny home. For instance, some people might have reduced their car travel because they had recently retired.
Nonetheless, all participants in this study reduced their footprints by downsizing to tiny homes, even if they did not downsize for environmental reasons. This indicates that downsizing leads people to adopt behaviors that are better for the environment. These findings provide important insights for the sustainable housing industry and implications for future research on tiny homes.
Water Scarcity: Climate Impacts on Canadian Water Supply
The blog post ‘Water Scarcity: Climate Impacts on Canadian Water Supply’ delves into the pressing issue of water scarcity from a global viewpoint, emphasizing how climate change adversely affects Canada’s water resources. It highlights the crucial role glaciers play in maintaining Canada’s water supply and discusses governmental policies aimed at mitigating water scarcity. The article explores…
The discovery of a large-scale methane reserve in western Nepal offers new hope for the country’s energy self-sufficiency. A preliminary report shows a confirmed methane reserve of 112 billion cubic meters, which is approximately equivalent to 76 million metric tons. Additionally, an initial estimate from the other three wells indicates that there could be potential storage of 430 billion cubic…
Kerosene fuelled rockets produce soot and a substance called alumina. Soot is a powdery residue consisting mostly of carbon caused by incomplete combustion.
Alumina (Aluminium Oxide) is a synthetic, nearly colourless crystalline substance used for smelting Aluminium.
Solid rocket fuel is made of Aluminium powder.
These fuel products can cause climate change ozone depletion. Nitrogen Oxides and Chlorine are also produced by rocket fuels.
While Hydrogen fuels produce water vapour, the heat caused by the reaction can cause the Nitrogen and Oxygen in the surrounding air to create Nitrogen Oxide which is a potent greenhouse gas that can also be responsible for acid rain.
Acid rain is responsible for the erosion of things like stone statues, etc.
