drydem
2007-09-19 15:46:04 UTC
Parking lots outnumber people, add to pollution
Andrea Thompson
Sept 19 2007 LiveSicience.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070919/sc_livescience/parkinglotsoutnumberpeopleaddtopollution
http://www.livescience.com/environment/070917_parking_lots.html
summary:
A study, lead by Bryan Pijanowski an associate
professor of forestry and natural resources
at Purdue University, found that in 2005
the number of parking spaces outnumber
drivers by three to one in Indiana's
Tippecanoe County. There was 355,000 parking
spaces for 155,000 residents. Fellow researcher
Bernard Engel said that much of the pollutants
from the parking lots - oil, grease, heavy
metals, and sediments - are not absorbed
by the impervious surface of the parking
lot but instead are flushed by stormwater
into nearby rivers and lakes. Indiana state
climatologist Dev Niyogi also asserts that
the paved surfaces and buildings absorb and
retain heat more efficiently than green
space and create an "urban heat island" effect.
Pijanowski advised that his study did not
include parking spaces on private property
and multi level parking structures - so his
count of parking spaces is a significant
underestimation.
Andrea Thompson
Sept 19 2007 LiveSicience.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070919/sc_livescience/parkinglotsoutnumberpeopleaddtopollution
http://www.livescience.com/environment/070917_parking_lots.html
summary:
A study, lead by Bryan Pijanowski an associate
professor of forestry and natural resources
at Purdue University, found that in 2005
the number of parking spaces outnumber
drivers by three to one in Indiana's
Tippecanoe County. There was 355,000 parking
spaces for 155,000 residents. Fellow researcher
Bernard Engel said that much of the pollutants
from the parking lots - oil, grease, heavy
metals, and sediments - are not absorbed
by the impervious surface of the parking
lot but instead are flushed by stormwater
into nearby rivers and lakes. Indiana state
climatologist Dev Niyogi also asserts that
the paved surfaces and buildings absorb and
retain heat more efficiently than green
space and create an "urban heat island" effect.
Pijanowski advised that his study did not
include parking spaces on private property
and multi level parking structures - so his
count of parking spaces is a significant
underestimation.