A drill pad built on top of fragile wetlands probes for new oil reserves. Technology imported from the West is helping Russia’s oil industry modernize, but Soviet-era spills and pipeline breaks have contaminated much of the region.
Simon Booth remembers when he grazed 250 head of cattle on his ranch in southeastern Australia—a sight his children Ryan and Claire may never see. A seven-year drought has the region, and its people, in its grips.
Some green roofs can be far simpler to create than traditional roof gardens. Volunteers from Cook + Fox installed the New York City architectural firm’s roof themselves using Green Paks. The polyethylene bags, marketed by St. Louis-based Green Roof Blocks, contain low-maintenance plants and can be laid out with no preparation beyond rolling out a layer of waterproof material that controls drainage and blocks the intrusion of roots into roof structures.
See more photographs from the May 2009 feature story "Green Roofs."
While exploring Walkerville, Ontario’s vacant, leafy icon known as the Walker Power Building, I noticed how forlorn my dim reflection appeared in its window. The vibrant colour of the windowpane and its climbing spring leaves contrast the dismal fate of this historic landmark.
