[MCN] Roads and more new roads: Maintenance costs and climate consequences

[Lance Olsen]

1st 4 paragraphs: "There's an odd new trend in 
American infrastructure, and it may make you 
think you've found a wormhole back to the 1950s: 
All over the country, roads are getting de-paved.

"Wired's Aarian Marshall 
reports <<https://www.wired.com/2016/07/cash-strapped-towns-un-paving-roads-cant-afford-fix/>>that transportation 
agencies in 27 states have ripped up roads they 
can't afford to maintain. Even with congressional 
spending on infrastructure going up, it doesn't 
match the rising cost of concrete, asphalt, and 
cement.

"Municipalities still can't afford to pay for 
road upkeep, so instead they de-pave.

"This may have consequences on your struts, but 
unpaved roads can have a few net benefits if done 
right. Paving materials not only absorb heat and 
make the area around roads hotter, they 
also contribute to surface runoff and can 
cause erosion, water pollution, and flooding. 
Plus, the cement industry is a huge producer of 
carbon dioxide - responsible for about 5 percent 
of all global emissions. So while 
de-paving might not be the sexiest solution to 
our infrastructure problem - and only goes to 
show how little we're spending - it really isn't 
the worst that could happen."

http://grist.org/living/the-hot-new-trend-in-american-infrastructure-unpaved-roads/

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"We present responses of a mixed woody-herbaceous 
ecosystem type to an extreme event: 
regional-scale pinon pine mortality following an 
extended drought, and the subsequent herbaceous 
green-up following the first wet period after the 
drought."

Paul M. Rich, David D. Breshears and Amanda B. 
White. PHENOLOGY OF MIXED WOODY-HERBACEOUS 
ECOSYSTEMS FOLLOWING EXTREME EVENTS: NET AND 
DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES. Ecology, 89(2), 2008, pp. 
342-352 Ó 2008 by the Ecological Society of 
America





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