Australia

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Temperate Rainforests Down Under Owe Existence to Ancient Ark

By Dominick A. DellaSala / On December 9th, 2011
Some 38-45 million years ago, Australia broke off from its parent super-continent, Gondwana, and began drifting northward.  In its long and arduous journey, the ark rafted ancient species forced to cope with a cooling and drying climate.

The Art of Artful Places

By Timothy Beatley / On February 20th, 2009
You almost never see a cow in a tree. That's why I was so surprised that day in February when I encountered one at the Docklands, a new green redevelopment district in the City of Melbourne.

Can Americans Learn To Share?

By Timothy Beatley / On January 29th, 2009
It would be an interesting exercise to inventory the "things" we have in our homes and offices—the objects, the equipment, specialized things, electronic and otherwise, that occupy space. Along with this accounting, might be some estimate of how recently the thing has actually been used, and how frequently. My hunch is that much of our home "inventory" consists of things that are used rather infrequently, if ever.
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The Carbon Neutral City

By Peter Newman / On January 26th, 2009
The seven key innovations of resilient cities are set as city models (being detailed over the next several weeks here at “Eco-Compass”). While no one city has shown innovation in all seven areas, some are quite advanced in one or two.

On Celebrating Climate

By Timothy Beatley / On January 22nd, 2009
When I lived in Oregon many years ago there was a humorous expression: "Oregonians Don't Tan, they Rust!" There was much truth to that as much of late fall and winter in the Northwest is damp and rainy. Yet, this weather system is one of the aspects of place I remember most fondly; I can still recall the look and feel and smell of that rain. There was certainly not the sense that the rainy season was to be dreaded, rather it was one of the aspects of place that contributed positively to the special sense of place there.