home.social

#landuse — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #landuse, aggregated by home.social.

  1. "Data centers represent 27% of development sites in the U.S. this year. It’s the second-highest category after apartment buildings..."

    Land prices are up 79% from last year.

    And "home builders cannot bid in that market, because a builder’s land budget is capped by what home buyers can afford. A data center operator faces no such constraint. The result is ... no homes at all."

    #USA #AI #DataCenters #LandUse #housing #farming
    ---
    cnbc.com/2026/09/06/ai-data-ce

  2. "Data centers represent 27% of development sites in the U.S. this year. It’s the second-highest category after apartment buildings..."

    Land prices are up 79% from last year.

    And "home builders cannot bid in that market, because a builder’s land budget is capped by what home buyers can afford. A data center operator faces no such constraint. The result is ... no homes at all."


    ---
    cnbc.com/2026/09/06/ai-data-ce

  3. "Data centers represent 27% of development sites in the U.S. this year. It’s the second-highest category after apartment buildings..."

    Land prices are up 79% from last year.

    And "home builders cannot bid in that market, because a builder’s land budget is capped by what home buyers can afford. A data center operator faces no such constraint. The result is ... no homes at all."

    #USA #AI #DataCenters #LandUse #housing #farming
    ---
    cnbc.com/2026/09/06/ai-data-ce

  4. "Data centers represent 27% of development sites in the U.S. this year. It’s the second-highest category after apartment buildings..."

    Land prices are up 79% from last year.

    And "home builders cannot bid in that market, because a builder’s land budget is capped by what home buyers can afford. A data center operator faces no such constraint. The result is ... no homes at all."

    #USA #AI #DataCenters #LandUse #housing #farming
    ---
    cnbc.com/2026/09/06/ai-data-ce

  5. "Data centers represent 27% of development sites in the U.S. this year. It’s the second-highest category after apartment buildings..."

    Land prices are up 79% from last year.

    And "home builders cannot bid in that market, because a builder’s land budget is capped by what home buyers can afford. A data center operator faces no such constraint. The result is ... no homes at all."

    #USA #AI #DataCenters #LandUse #housing #farming
    ---
    cnbc.com/2026/09/06/ai-data-ce

  6. ”When our rewilding program started, many big corporations offered us huge amounts of money if we certified carbon credits. We consulted with communities. But our answer was that we don’t sell nature.”

    #climateFinance #wetlands #rewetting #prevention #deterrence #rewilding #Finland #Karelia #peatland #restoration #landUse #peatlands #nature #carbon #carbonSinks #CDR #wildfires #offsets #carbonOffsets #communities

  7. Busy Beavers - The Turbidity Signature Of Ecosystem Engineers At Work
    --
    doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70661 <-- shared paper
    --
    H/T @alan Puttock
    “Beavers are the quintessential ecosystem engineers. In slow-flowing streams, they create complex wetlands with ponds by building dams and canals that can positively impact biodiversity, hydrology and water quality. These activities can interchangeably capture or release sediment along the watercourse. To date this has not been quantified at the resolution of rainfall events or beaver activity. This study used 15-min frequency, sustained monitoring upstream and downstream of a newly establishing beaver wetland to measure episodic changes in water turbidity at an event resolution. Monitoring showed no significant differences between upstream and downstream turbidity over 160 days when the first pair of beavers, known not to be building dams or canals, were resident. Shortly after introduction of another beaver pair, however, dam building, burrows and canal excavations were quickly observed, resulting in the creation of a complex beaver wetland between 2021 and 2024. Monitoring over 375 days during this period showed significant differences. Downstream turbidity was significantly higher overall than upstream: 13.1 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) compared to 4.2 NTU. Stochastic spikes in downstream turbidity during the study period not recorded upstream were associated with dam building and burrowing. Overall, there was no significant difference in turbidity loads, which was at least partially explained by a reduction in discharge downstream, particularly in higher flows, during the dam building period. This demonstrates a complex system with the trapping of influent sediment, the storing of water and the periodic release of beaver wetland sediment leading to net balance in loads. These results help provide context for other studies which have used temporally discrete sampling campaigns rather than continuous high-frequency monitoring. They provide a unique insight into the downstream impacts of a rapidly developing beaver wetland over its first three and a half years in a landscape that hasn't had beavers for over 400 years…"
    #hydromorphic #water #hydrology #dam #beaverdam #waterquality #biodiversity #ecology #benefits #NatureBasedSolutions #Wetlands #Ecology #Biodiversity #EnvironmentalScience #Wildlife #Ecosystem #bioviversity #conservation #restoration #landscaperecovery #floodmanagement #FloodMitigation #flooding #energy #floodrisk #sustainability #wetlands #hydrography #dams #impoundment #deadwood #waterresources #landscapeengineer #benefits #vegetation #ecology #ecosystem #riversystemsstabilisation #naturalwaterregulation #resilience #valleysreborn #fisheries #invertebrates #extremeweather #floodflows #sediment #baseflow #drought #landmanagement #naturalsystems #landuse #monitoring #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal

  8. Eager Beavers - Rodents Engineer Czech Wetland Project After Years Of Human Delay [ecosystem engineers]
    --
    theguardian.com/world/2025/feb <-- shared technical media article
    --
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver-e <-- shared wiki technical page
    --
    phys.org/news/2025-02-fine-bea <-- shared technical article
    --
    youtu.be/GSTw8qmBP4Y?si=XK2Iy2 <-- shared video (Czech)
    --
    H/T @ScienceGirl
    "We don't expect any conflict with the beaver in the next 10 years," ~ Bohumil Fiser from the Czech Nature Conservation Agency
    --
    “For seven years, planners struggled to complete a $1.2 million wetland restoration project in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic. The goal was to build a dam that would improve water management and bring back valuable wetland habitat, but the project remained trapped in a maze of permits and approvals.
    Then a family of eight Eurasian beavers did what engineers had planned… without permits, machinery, or a budget.
    The beavers built a network of dams in almost the exact area chosen for the proposed project, naturally restoring the wetland system officials had spent years trying to create. After seeing the results, authorities decided there was little point continuing with the original human-built dam.
    Although some reports suggested the beavers completed the work overnight, experts say their construction likely took several weeks. The reason it seemed sudden is that the animals quietly worked away until their finished dams became impossible to miss.
    Beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers” because their behaviour can reshape entire environments. By cutting trees and blocking streams, they create ponds and wetlands that support countless species, including fish, amphibians, insects, birds, and mammals.
    Their wetlands also act as natural water reservoirs, helping during droughts, reducing flood risks, filtering water, storing carbon, and keeping landscapes wetter during wildfires…
    Once heavily hunted across Europe, beaver populations have been recovering thanks to conservation efforts, proving that sometimes nature can solve problems humans spend years trying to fix…"
    #water #hydrology #KlabavaRiver #Czech #BrdyRegion #protected #CzechRepublic #armytraining #military #beaver #Eurasianbeavers #dam #beaverdam #waterquality #restoration #biodiversity #crayfish #wetland #ecology #benefits #Beavers #NatureBasedSolutions #Wetlands #Ecology #Biodiversity #Agroforestry #EnvironmentalScience #Conservation #Wildlife #Ecosystem #bioviversity #conservation #restoration #landscaperecovery #EcosystemEngineers #nature #floodmanagement #FloodMitigation #flood #flooding #energy #floodrisk #sustainability #wetlands #hydrography #dams #impoundment #deadwood #waterresources #landscapeengineer #agriculture #benefits #vegetation #ecology #ecosystem #riversystemsstabilisation #naturalwaterregulation #resilience #drought #wildfire #valleysreborn #slowdetermination #fisheries #invertebrates #extremeweather #floodflows #sediment #baseflow #drought #landmanagement #naturalsystems #landuse #ecosystemengineers #watermanagement

  9. The #EnvironmentalCost of #ArtificialIntelligence: #Carbon, #Water, and #LandFootprints

    #AI’s rapid growth drives huge energy, water, and land use, raising environmental and equity challenges across its global infrastructure.

    Date Published 3 Jun 2026

    UNU-INWEH Report: Aczel, M., Chamanara, S., Matin, M., Farsi, A., Marwala, T., Madani, K. (2026).

    "This report, Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water and Land Footprints, by the #UnitedNationsUniversity Institute for Water, Environment and Health ( #UNU - #INWEH ) on its 30th anniversary, examines one of the most underexplored consequences of AI’s rapid expansion: the environmental footprints of the energy required to power it. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in economies, public services, research, communication, and everyday life, it depends on a growing physical infrastructure of #datacenters, advanced #chips, #CoolingSystems, #ElectricityGrids, #WaterResources, land, and #CriticalMineral supply chains. The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable #EnvironmentalCosts.

    "The report moves beyond a carbon-only lens by quantifying the carbon, water, and land footprints associated with the electricity used to train, deploy, and operate AI systems at scale. Its central finding is that AI’s environmental costs depend not only on how much electricity is used, but also on where that electricity is generated and which energy sources power it. Every kilowatt-hour used by AI carries carbon, water, and land implications, and these footprints do not always move in the same direction: low-carbon electricity is not automatically low-water or low-land. The report also shows that AI’s footprint is shaped by both major infrastructure trends, including the rapid growth of data centers, and everyday use patterns, including model choice, output length, modality, and the growing use of text, image, and video generation.

    "Importantly, the report frames AI’s environmental footprint as a governance and justice challenge, not only a technical problem. The benefits of AI often flow across borders and sectors, while the environmental burdens of data center siting, electricity demand, water withdrawals, #LandUse, MineralExtraction, and #EWaste can be concentrated in specific communities and regions. To address these risks, the report calls for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and #EnvironmentalJustice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use. By making AI’s carbon, water, and land footprints visible and comparable, the report provides a practical basis for integrating AI into energy, climate, water, and land-use planning, ensuring that innovation advances without shifting environmental costs onto vulnerable communities."

    Download PDF:
    unu.edu/inweh/collection/envir

    #AIBoom #Electricity #Hyperscale #BigTech #BigData #CarbonFootprint #EnvironmentalRacism #EnvironmentalDegradation #NoisePollution #LightPollution #WaterIsLife #AIAgents #BotTraffic #GreenSpaces #Farmland #Prairies #Woodland #TechGiants #ProtectNature #NoDatacenters #EnergyConsumption #USPol #WorldPol #Datacentres
    #DatacenterMoratoriums

  10. American cities with the most trees per square mile

    Source: thoughtco.com

    Listed below are those larger American cities for whom data on tree canopies is readily available, that have the most trees per square mile. Bear in mind that some examples are solely from inside the city limits proper, while others like Miami are for both the city and surrounding county.

    Most surprising from the data gathered is the extent of the tree canopies in some Texan cities, especially Dallas and its suburbs, as well as Austin. Also, an unfortunate number of cities have not estimated the extent of their tree canopy.

    One would have thought that ever city with a collegiate forestry or landscape architecture program would have long since calculated the extent of their tree canopy. Certainly, some have, as Athens, Austin, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Gainesville, and Fort Collins all can attest. But to not find comparable numbers from places like Boulder, Eugene, Raleigh, or Madison was quite unexpected.

    Peace!

    Note: Data is for all trees on both public and private property.

    _______

    1. Athens, Georgia = 13.3 million or 112,640 trees per square mile

    2. Austin, Texas = 33.8 million or 103,522 trees per square mile

    3. Orlando, Florida = 7.5 million or 67,812 trees per square mile

    4. Tampa, Florida = 9.9 million or 56,474 trees per square mile

    5. Seattle, Washington = 4.35 million or 51,909 trees per square mile

    6. Ann Arbor, Michigan = 1.45 million or 51,408 trees per square mile

    7. Houston, Texas = 33 million or 49,624 trees per square mile for Houston

    8. Gainesville, Florida = 2.95 million or 46,714 trees per square mile

    9. Springfield, Missouri = 3.6 million or 43,742 trees per square mile

    10. Bellevue, Washington = 1.4 million or 41,841 trees per square mile

    11. Lewisville, Texas = 1.652 million or 38,870 trees per square mile

    12. Dallas, Texas = 14.7 million or 38,103 trees per square mile

    13. Washington, DC = 2.43 million or 35,578 trees per square mile

    14. Denton, Texas = 3.5 million or 35, 425 trees per square mile

    15. Milwaukee, Wisconsin = 3.38 million or 35,135 trees per square mile

    16. Cleveland, Ohio = 2.37 million or 30,502 trees per square mile

    17. Baltimore, Maryland = 2.8 million or 30,418 trees per square mile

    18. Arlington, Texas = 2.965 million or 29,589 trees per square mile

    19. Arlington, Virginia = 755,000 = 29,038 trees per square mile

    20. Grand Rapids, Michigan = 1.28 million or 28,444 trees per square mile

    21. Tulsa, Oklahoma = 5.2 million or 26,329 trees per square mile

    22. New York City, New York = 7.0 million 23,133 trees per square mile

    23. Plano, Texas = 1.6 million or 22,222 trees per square mile

    24. Los Angeles, California = 10.5 million or 20,887 trees per square mile

    25. Cincinnati, Ohio = 1.6 million or 20,566 trees per square mile

    26. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania = 2.9 million or 20,322 trees per square mile

    27. Providence, Rhode Island = 415,000 or 20,165 trees per square mile

    28. Miami-Dade County, Florida = 36 million 0r 18,499 per square mile

    29. Chicago, Illinois = 4.1 million or 18,038 trees per square mile

    30. Minneapolis, Minnesota = 979,000 or 17,026 trees per square mile

    31. Denver, Colorado = 2.2 million or 14,379 trees per square mile

    32. San Francisco, California = 669,000 or 14,264 trees per square mile

    33. Portland, Oregon = 1.4 million or 10,491 trees per square mile

    34. Sacramento, California = 1.0 million or 9,990 trees per square mile

    35. St. Paul, Minnesota = 500,000 or 8,897 trees per square mile

    36. San Jose, California = 1.6 million or 8,825 trees per square mile

    37. Fort Collins, Colorado = 500,000 or 8,741 trees per square mile

    38. Irvine, California = 550,000 or 8,384 trees per square mile

    39. Birmingham, Alabama = 1.0 million or 6,803 trees per square mile

    40. Virginia Beach, Virginia = 3.2 million or 6,438 trees per square mile

    41. El Paso, Texas = 1.28 million or 4,954 trees per square mile

    42. Oakland, California = 200,000 or 2,564 trees per square mile

    43. Buffalo, New York = 130,000 or 2,476 trees per square mile

    SOURCES:

    #cities #climateChange #environment #forests #geography #history #landUse #nature #planning #travel #treeCanopy #trees #urbanForests #urbanForsts #woodlands

  11. My thoughts on 'Neoliberal peri‐urban economies and the predicament of dairy farmers: a case study of the Illawarra region, New South Wales' (Ren Hu & Nicholas J. Gill, 2022).

    This paper includes a very thorough literary review and insights into the perceptions and experiences of Illawara dairy farmers as the region is urbanised.

    The paper is perhaps worth a read if you are concerned with land-use issues in rural communities.

    joesilver.micro.blog/2025/03/2

    #Agriculture #UrbanPlanning #LandUse #Neolibralism #LandUseConflict #Illawara #AcademicCommunity

  12. (2/2) Shifting to alternative diets (#plantbased, mycoprotein, #cellbased etc.) can mitigate GHG #emissions (39- 86%) & #landuse (38-82%), highlighting the potential of dietary changes to mitigate global #environment impacts linked to food systems: doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.20 #diets

  13. Hey, I´m new here, so time for a short #introduction:

    I´m an #openscience advocate with roots in #geography, working with #earthobservation & other #geospatial data. Reading all things related to #python, #rstats, #QGIS & #machinelearning. Researching in #landsystem #science, #landuse in #agriculture, currently trying to find #fields in #smallholder landscapes.

    Let´s connect & (re)build a strong community!