I had recently read an article on how green roofs can curb Global Warming. I think that creating gardens on skyscrapers is a very powerful and unique idea. The plants in the green roofs would absorb carbon-dioxide from the air and reduce the amount of pollution from greenhouse gases. Researchers experimented whether or not the green house roofs worked, down in Detroit. They found out that the roofs captured more than 55,000 tons of carbon-dioxide. That would be equivalent to the amount of carbon-dioxide released by 10,000 mid sized SUVs and trucks. These statistics are directly from www.livescience.com so don't think I'm kidding.
Not only would it it help global warming, the green roofs would also reduce heating and air conditioning bills, the plants would protect the roof from ultraviolet radiation and extreme changes in the temperature, and the plants would also detain storm water which could cause a flooding or erosion. It will also help the economy by drawing in more visitors. In addition, its maintanance will offer that many more unemployed people occupations. Imagine taking off from a plane and when you look down at the city, you see astonishing gardens on top of skyscrapers. It would be a magnificent and incredibly beautiful attraction. Who knew that something so beautiful could be so helpful.
In my opinion, this whole idea of green roofs is amazing. However, just today in Social Studies, we were having a conversation on how much soil the United States, and the rest of the world, uses annualy. In the article, it said that the number of green roofs increased by more than 35% between the year 2007 & 2008 in the United States. In Germany, 12% of all flat roofs are green. Imagine how much extra soil was used just there. Using too much soil can lead to bigger problems. It bothers me that when you try to solve one problem, you create another. Now I'm not sure if all problems can be fixed. There has to be a way where we can solve every problem without creating another. Who knows? Maybe there is.
Some questions I had...
Who created this idea?
How much does it cost to make one green roof?
If a building caught on fire, would the garden become a threat?
If you could answer some of my questions or have your own opinion, please leave a comment.
