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Local Researcher Finds Cities' Land Use Responsible for Global Warming
(2009-11-12)
(WABE) - Much attention has been paid to greenhouse gases' roll in climate change. But as WABE's Jim Burress reports, a Georgia Tech researcher says there's another cause, too: cities.

All those interstates, highrises even golf courses that make big cities big? They're all contributing to global warming, says Georgia Tech Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning Brian Stone.

"Most of this warming is a product of land use "

like parking lots.

" as opposed to greenhouse gasses"

which come out of your tailpipe.

"So if we're going to address climate change in cities, we need to be focused on not only on greenhouse gasses, but how land use changes the loss of tree canopy for example is impacting surface temperature."

Stone says attacking climate change isn't an "either, or" proposition, but that better city planning can help win the fight.

His findings are published in the December's Journal: Environmental Science and Technology. Jim Burress, WABE News.
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