site development and planning
The impacts of development and land use patterns were well documented during the last half of the twentieth century. Impacts include a loss of water quality, fragmented and lost wildlife habitat, human health issues, introduction of invasive exotic plants, loss of biodiversity, falling groundwater tables, and more.
As development proceeds, isolated “islands” of green space and narrow visual buffers give some aesthetic appeal to the finished site, but they are commonly without significant ecological value.
Most climate change models are based on a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a minor constituent in the atmosphere, representing only about 0.03 percent in the atmosphere. At the time the industrial revolution began, there were about 280 parts per million (ppm), down from 1600 ppm about 300 million years ago.
