We've decided to talk about ... because ...

(1)India’s booming textile industry is causing severe pollution to its rivers, with farreaching consequences -https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fashions-unseen-impact-water-crisis-india-ashok-pundit  ,  https://nmcg.nic.in/pollution.aspx  ,  https://youtu.be/eHCaIvPN2rY?si=ao3izHXCBI67-BTw

(2)The article on Delhi air pollution provides an overview of the key causes, effects, and measures being implemented to address the worsening air quality in the city. The air pollution crisis in Delhi not only affects public health but also the city’s overall livability - https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/delhi-air-pollution-upsc

(3)The dark side of cheap clothes in India - https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/fast-fashion-in-india/  ,  https://youtu.be/kaHmxZhea3M?si=byUBpM9ruKOeNyE7

We have chosen the city of Los Angeles for our eco-project because it's a city that is facing a number of problems. We're going to focus on 4 major problems facing Los Angeles:

https://sustainablewave.com/the-environmental-problems-of-los-angeles/

The first is air pollution. Los Angeles is notorious for its smog and high levels of particulate matter, mainly due to vehicle emissions, industrial activity and geographical factors that trap pollutants.

https://ourclimateourfuture.org/video/youth-climate-story-air-pollution-los-angeles/

https://earth.org/air-pollution-in-los-angeles/

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/air-pollution-health-equity-los-angeles

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/83b26ccbd5cb4c4681fb30f2a1dbc817

The second is water scarcity. California experiences frequent droughts, and Los Angeles's high water consumption puts pressure on local water supplies.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-07-22/californias-water-usage-is-down-takeaways-from-times-drought-tracker

https://www.nrdc.org/bio/mark-gold/drought-proofing-angeles-county

The third is the urban heat island effect. The dense urban environment with extensive concrete and asphalt surfaces contributes to higher temperatures, exacerbating heat waves and increasing energy consumption for cooling.

https://19thnews.org/2023/07/los-angeles-schools-climate-change/

Finally, waste management. Los Angeles generates a large amount of waste, with significant amounts going to landfills and inadequate recycling rates.

https://nycaceofwaste.com/en/los-angeles/

These are the different problems we'll be looking at, and we know there are different solutions to these different problems. 

Polluted drinking water : https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/09/sydneys-drinking-water-quality-under-threat-from-climate-crisis-report-finds      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEpD8o7IzPk

Poor air quality :   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/15/air-pollution-in-nsw-causes-603-premature-deaths-and-costs-48bn-a-year-study-finds        https://youtu.be/UtA1cVou_FU?si=zjAxPUGXy_FOT5BT  

Urban sprawl : https://www.uts.edu.au/news/social-justice-sustainability/our-growing-cities-are-under-pressure  https://www.rawearthenvironmental.com.au/articles/overcoming-regional-environmental-challenges-sydney-wollongong-byron-bay

We've decided to choose New York City because of its undoubtedly important role in society as the economic capital of the most influent and powerful nation of the occidental world. Being the most important city of one of the most important countries doesn’t prevent NYC from suffering from problems caused by climate change, indeed NYC is victim of floods (1), water shortage (2) and air pollution (3)

(1) NYC organizes to prevent as much as possible catastrophic floods in the near future:

https://e360.yale.edu/features/new-york-city-climate-plan-sea-level-rise

(2) NYC suffers from water shortage:

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/new-york-water-shortage-drought-b1924145.html

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/em/downloads/pdf/hazard_mitigation/nycs_risk_landscape_chapter_4.7_watershortage.pdf

(3) Even Tho NYC is one of the goods students compared to the other biggest cities of the worlds it still suffers from dangerous air pollution:

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/environmental/comm-air-survey-08-16.pdf

https://kunakair.com/air-pollution-in-new-york/#:~:text=State%20of%20Air%20Report%202023,polluted%20cities%20in%20the%20country

((4) global documentation) :

https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/climate-change/effects-impacts#:~:text=Other%20Impacts%20of%20Climate%20Change%20Around%20New%20York%20State&text=Increased%20precipitation%20is%20causing%20more,sections%20of%20the%20Hudson%20River

The city we chose is Honolulu  in Hawaii, because this place seems to be like a paradise, but it is not. Indeed, this place is very polluted and threatened by global warming. For example, Honolulu’s waters are polluted with many different factors, and the entirety of the archipelago is endangered by sea level rise and loss of biodiversity. However, even if Honolulu and the Hawaiian archipelago is threatened by pollution and global warming, there are solutions to reduce those impacts.

Water pollution (Cécile):

https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/show-177/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A,complex%20water%20crisis%20in%20Hawaii 

→ Some causes of water pollution

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-potential-threat-to-honolulus-water-supply-lurking-underground-60-minutes/

→ Water pollution is in part caused by an accident that happened in Pearl  Harbor military base

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/sentinel-site-program/hawaiihumpbackwhale/water-quality.html

→ impacts on biodiversity (whales)

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2022-02-08/chronic-water-pollution-found-in-honolulu-kaneohe-and-haleiwa

→ waters are also polluted by bacterias

https://health.hawaii.gov/cwb/clean-water-branch-home-page/polluted-runoff-control-program/#:~:text=Kaaawa%20Valley%2C%20O%CA%BBahu),areas%2C%20agriculture%2C%20and%20cesspools

→ program to protect against water pollution, and explain how the sea is contaminated by pollution

Sea level rise (Sacha):

https://climate.hawaii.gov/hi-facts/sea-level-rise/

    → datas and consequences of sea level rise in Honolulu + what will happen next

https://www.hawaiibusiness.com/sea-level-rise-effects-honolulu-hawaii-waikiki-map-future-climate-change/

  → solutions considered to limit the damages

https://earth.org/data_visualization/sea-level-rise-by-2100-honolulu/

  → sea level rise projection map Honolulu, sea level rise is speeding up

https://climate.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/OCCL23-Sea-Level-Rise-Report-FY22-1.pdf

→ Hawaii sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation report, from 2022

https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/atmospheric-effects/effect-surface-currents/climate-connection-sea-level-rise 

→ causes of this rising

https://youtu.be/fJ7uO7fZCC8?si=yoZV3JutSyZumJmA 

→ video about sea level rise in Honolulu  and the bills it rises

Loss of biodiversity (Lana):

https://www.nature.org/media/hawaii/last_stand_web_lo.pdf

→ hawaii biodiversity is crucial 

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/10/21/biodiversity-of-islands-in-peril/

→ scientist warm : some species in danger 

https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/10/preserving-hawaiis-biodiversity-is-up-to-us/

→ Hawaii the extinction capital of the world 

https://www.mauiforestbirds.org/large-scale-habitat-degradation/

→ Habitat loss due to the expansion of invasive species (competition to survive)

https://earth.org/solutions-to-biodiversity-loss/

→ Possible solutions to the loss of biodiversity 

The city we decided on is Vancouver because despite being the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, Vancouver is one of the greenest cities in the world. Even so, it doesn’t mean all environmental issues have been dealt with. Indeed, being a coastal city, they are at a high risk of being flooded if sea level rises (1). Fortunately, they started planning for this danger long ago (2). Besides, their zero waste plan hasn’t reached its goal yet, with garbage overflowing (3) and plastic being especially difficult to eliminate (4). Lastly, we wanted to focus on a less-known problem of Vancouver: the loss of biodiversity. For many different reasons, animal populations are slowly being depleted (5). Particularly, the forage fish population declined sharply because of urban development, which also affects the locals (6).

(1) Sea level rise may be ‘3 times worse’ than expected. Here’s how it could impact Metro Vancouver - https://globalnews.ca/news/6102304/sea-level-rise-metro-vancouver/

(2) How the city of Vancouver is planning for future flooding due to rising sea levels - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTmJvokweqE

(3) Metro Vancouver spends millions to ship garbage out of region - https://globalnews.ca/video/9524736/metro-vancouver-to-spend-millions-to-ship-garbage-out-of-region/

(4) Metro Vancouve’s goal of 80% waste diversion from landfills stalled - https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/metro-vancouver-waste-diversion

(5) NATURE, NURTURED: WHAT’S THREATENING BIODIVERSITY IN BC? - https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/nature-nurtured-whats-threatening-biodiversity-in-bc/ 

(6) New study shows how industrial development decimated fish populations near Vancouver - https://www.coastreporter.net/environment/forage-fish-study-tsleil-waututh-nation-8116217

***BC: British Columbia, the province in which Vancouver is located.