Close your eyes and take in the sounds around you. Perhaps you notice the whirling of the fans or air conditioning around you, or the minute ticking of your desk clock. Most likely though, you will hear the ever faint sounds of vehicles zipping down the streets, or the very distant sounds of construction. Although most of us would have been conditioned to subconsciously tune these noises out, they indadvertedly still stimulate the nervous systems in our bodies, and in…
In the aftermath of the World War II, many Asian countries placed growing their economy as a priority, which resulted in rapid urbanisation and the negligence of quality of life and proper urban planning (Y.-K. Lee et al., 2014). For this blog post, we place focus on the case study of the Cheonggyecheon restoration project, an attempt by Seoul City to veto the horrible air pollution and poor quality of life brought about by poor urban design in the past….
In the previous blog post, I introduced the phenomenon of the Yellow Dust that brings in air pollutants from the arid regions of continental Asia, into the cities of China, Korea and Japan. I also mentioned that the composition of the particles are mainly fine or ultra-fine sand which was the result of aeolian processes and years and years of erosions of the landscape of the deserts. From this, we would think that the causes of the Yellow Dust is…
Following the most recent COVID-19 pandemic, people out and about on the streets with a face mask on is no longer an unusual sight. However in East Asian countries, specifically China and Korea, masks has been a necessity way before the COVID times. The reason for this is because cities in both countries suffer from poor air quality with a surprisingly natural origin. Origins of the dust The Yellow Dust that blows over East Asia originates from…
People spend majority of their lives indoors today, be it at home resting, in an office at work, or when we go to malls for leisure during break-time. Hence, it is not surprising that there is an increased focus on the quality of air indoors, particularly in its Volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration. VOCs are compounds that evaporate easily. They are found in almost every household item. Some examples of VOCs include acetone (commonly found in nail polish removers), benzene…
As a continuation from the previous introductory post on light pollution, we look deeper into the impacts it has on bio-diversity, specifically wildlife that shares the urban space with us. As aforementioned, exposure to artificial lighting, specifically blue light, at night-time prevents the body from producing the sleep hormone melatonin. This is why it is worth once in a while to listen to mom and put your phone away before sleeping. Other lightings such as LED streetlights are also sources…
Cities and bright lights are synonymous, and stunning nightscape are often an important feature of a vibrant and flourishing city. Indeed, cities are meant to be sparkling, but bright lights have robbed us of other wonders of the world. For example, we know for sure that stars exist above our heads in the sky, but why is it that we see nothing but pitch black when we tilt our head up to the skies at night in the city? In…
In the previous blog post, we looked at how love and devotion, coupled with improper sewage systems and lax regulations, have led to the demise of the river that courses through the world’s largest ancient city. It was clear that the river Ganges was vital to the people who reside near it, but what exactly have the people done to revive the river? Governmental Action The Ganges River provides the state with an array of ecosystem services;…
Humans love water. Aside from the obvious reasons of needing water to survive, humans have an uncanny attraction to water, evident in the high demand for waterfront apartments, and expensive beach vacations. Our desire to be near a water source dates back to the birth of civilisation, where every cradle formed next to a river. Pollution of the waters that run through ancient cities We place focus on the Ganges River for our post today. The Ganges River was where…
Cities are anthropogenic habitats, a place where humans congregate, to live, work and play in. Enticed by the prospect of jobs, education, facilities and in general, a better standard of living, cities draw humans in like fire to moth. In fact, more that half of the world’s population currently reside in a city, with this number projecting to rise to a 60% by 2030 (UN, n.d.). In order to house this massive amount of people, rapid urbanisation ensued, and…