7 Innovative Solutions That'll Help Us Combat Climate Change & Give Us A Chance At Survival

 ANJALI BISARIA 

MAY 10, 2017

If there ever was a time to innovate, it is now. 

The threat of climate change has sprung several architects and designers into action to devise alternatives that work for everyone. Most of these ideas will be taken to fruition in the future to counter every ill-effect caused by global warming.

These 7 solutions will tackle sea level rises, greenhouse emissions, and the changes in rainfall and temperatures. Based on revolutionary technologies, these solutions will give us hope for survival.

1. Skyscrapers that rotate

A building that can self-sustain using the energies present in nature has to be one of the most intelligent solutions to climate change. 

Already under construction in Dubai, a rotating skyscraper designed by David Fisher will power itself with terrace-mounted solar panels and 79 horizontal wind turbines that will be placed between every storey. The focus here is on solar-powered panels wherein the energy will be clean and devoid of emission.

2. Crops that beat the heat

Traditionally, selective breeding methods have helped crops adapt to different climates. But the need to have drought- and heat-resistant crops is the need of the hour. 

Scientists believe that genetic engineering is a great solution for driving characteristics from drought-tolerant species and introducing them into crops. While drought-resistance varieties of maize are being tested in Canada, drought-tolerant wheat is being tested in Egypt.

3. Skyscrapers that are farms

Climate change is making it difficult for crops to grow in a healthy environment and to slow the pace of this disintegration, vertical farms are one of the best ideas anyone has had in a very long time. 

Vertical gardens with hundreds of species of plants have already become a reality in places like Bengaluru and China. Now the focus is on the farms - one is being planned in Africa where a skyscraper of crops will aim to bring Green Revolution to the sub-Saharan Africa. 

But what these farms will really achieve is this - solar-powered lighting, healthy crop cultivation, protection of crops from floods and droughts, and prevention of water and resource wastage.

4. Air conditioners that use solar energy

In a resource limited world that is being consistently pushed into the arms of climate change, we need to think bigger and better. To that end, solar-empowered air conditioners are the next big change we must accept. 

Solar-enabled air conditioners continue to cool even when the sun is at its peak and even provide hot water. By using thermal energy, the system compresses air that sprays refrigerant out of a jet. In the process, once this refrigerant evaporates, it sucks in heat. 

5. Houses that float

The sea level is expected to rise by a metre or more by the year 2100. Taking that into consideration, low-lying areas such as Bangladesh, Australia, and the Netherlands will face great peril. 

Scientists think that houses, communities, and even cities will be "rethought" so that they can withstand a dangerous rise in the sea level. The Netherlands has created what is known as amphibious homes that are anchored to a vertical pile and come equipped with hollow concrete cubes giving the houses the buoyancy they need to withstand a five-metre rise in the sea levels. 

6. Artificial glaciers

Our glaciers are melting and cracking with alarming speed, aiding toward the rise in sea level and dwindling the supply to agricultural lands. Chewang Norphel, who is a retired civil engineer, came up with a genius idea to use artificial glaciers to keep the water supply alive especially in summers.

A resident of Ladakh, Norphel's system pumps water into shallow pools that have rocky embankments. In winters, these pools freeze and once water is added, they gradually form a sheet of ice. In summers, the water melts and aids the sowing of crops. 

7. Cities that float

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut's intelligent design for a floating city has grabbed eyeballs. His floating sustainable city will be based on a giant lily pad, which according to Callebaut, will win us our fight against rising sea levels. 

This floating city will be home to 50,000 climate refugees. It will help in collecting their own rainwater into a centralised lake system which in turn will help in generating power from renewable sources such as the wind, waves, and solar power. 

Climate change is a challenge that needs to be tackled head-on but that effort just can't be the responsibility of a few. We must join forces to either take forward these initiatives or come up with our own solutions to extend the life of our beautiful planet.