Tag: Music

WATER: Saltwater Intrusion – Rolling into the River

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Saltwater is rolling in on the Mississippi River. Image: “The waves on the water” by graphic artist Elapros, 2011. Creative commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Tina Turner famously sang about Proud Mary Rollin’ on the River. But now the mighty Mississippi River is not rolling with cruise boats. A Viking line riverboat recently set sail but was stuck for an entire day on a sandbar. The Mississippi river is suffering from drought, reducing the river’s freshwater flow and allowing salty water from the Gulf of Mexico to enter the river. Affected are plants, wildlife, and people – including those in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

“Skyline of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA” by Michael Maples, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1999. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

With the drought depleting the Mississippi’s freshwater resources, a saltwater wedge is forming that may reach the urban area by the end of October 2023. Why a wedge? The shape is formed by differences in saltwater (more dense) and freshwater: when the two kinds of water come together, they form a wedge.

 

Salter intrusion can affect the environment. Another concern is the water infrastructure. Image: “Saltwater intrusion” graphic by Sweetian, 2011. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

As coastal and river communities consume more water, drawing from available aquifers, seawater can encroach. That affects both farming (5% salinity makes water unsuitable for agriculture) and drinking water (2% salinity renders freshwater undrinkable). Rivers are also an important habitat for flora and fauna, estuarial environments, and wildlife: all of these are affected by salinity.

Salt can corrode. When drinking water distribution systems contain lead in the pipes, results can be disastrous. Image: “Rusted water pipe” by photographer Geographer, 2008. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

While salty water is dangerous for a number of environmental reasons, another serious concern is its corrosive effect. Some of pipes in New Orleans’ water distribution system may still have lead. This is the case for many American cities whose pipes are older than 1986, when a law was passed that prohibits using lead in water systems. One million people in southeast Louisiana are on watch and in danger. Flint, Michigan suffered a tragedy when lead from its aging system leached into drinking water: by the time pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha noticed lead poisoning among patients, a generation of children were stricken. Medical treatment was $100 million; fixing and replacing the outdated pipes: $1.5 billion. Even where lead is not present, other dangerous heavy metals can be released. Anti-corrosion products are available, and the New Orleans has called a public works meeting to plan a corrosion monitoring program.

One option? Bottled water. Image: “Lots of bottled water” by photographer Nrbelex, 2006. Creative commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

New Orleans, and the communities in southeast Louisiana, can take action now, before it is too late. But what are the options? Like the people in Flint, families can purchase bottled water. A suburb of Nola, Metaire (whose interchange of I-10/I-610 is subject to flooding) reported sales of 2,000 bottles of water daily. In New Orleans, large institutions needing water, like hospitals, were stockpiling in advance. Maybe it could be a short-term option, but it’s an environmental and health risk – over one million plastic bottles of water are sold globally – every minute! Studies reveal water from plastic bottles leaches microplastics into the human system. And then there’s the reality that very few plastic water bottles are recycled, with most ending up in landfills, river, and oceans.  Bottled water is not a long-term answer.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a sill and can improve that structure. Image: “Sill” by graphic artist Meninanatureza, 2021. Creative commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

What about macro solution? In July 2023, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed a “sill”  in the Mississippi River as a kind of barrier to influx of salt water from the Gulf. Now, plans are in process to raise the sill barrier by 25 feet (7.62 meters). But even at the new height, the project will only delay the inevitable by 10 or so days. Another large-scale option is building a pipe to bring fresh water from upstream. It’s like what China did with the Grand Canal – bringing water from the south to the north – but in reverse. Possible, but expensive, and not a guarantee that enough fresh water will be available in the upper river if drought conditions persist.

The MIT desalination device is the size of a suitcase. Image: “Belber Vintage Striped Suitcase,” by photographer Sandrine Z, 2014. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

One further option, especially if saltwater continues to flow from the Gulf of Mexico, is new desalination technology developing at MIT. The Device Research Laboratory’s Lenan Zhang and Yang Zhong, along with Evelyn Wang and team, working with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the National Science Foundation of China, announced development of a system the size of a suitcase that can filter high-salinity water, delivering 1.32 gallons (5 liters) of drinking and cooking water per hour. It can be installed at households, and is free from electricity, running on solar power. The system is new design that solves the formerly-intractable problem of salt buildup that clogs many desalination devices. Overall, the cost of delivering drinking water is cheaper than tap water. In a feat of biomimicry, the device by thermohaline processes – (temperature “thermo” + salinity “haline”) – just like the waves of the ocean. (Chu 2023).

Mangrove leaves can excrete salt. Image: “Avicenna germinans  –  salt excretion” by photographer Ulf Mehlig. Creative commons 2.5. Included with appreciation.

Or where suitable, there is the mangrove. This coastal plant can thrive in salty environments and may even act as a filter; some mangrove leaves are able to excrete salt. Mangrove trees can help to regulate salinity: they thrive in the intertidal zones where salt and fresh water mix. Avicenna officinalis (see above) is one of the salt-secretors; this mangrove tree has evolved salt glands in the tissues that release salt.

There are more than 500 port cities endangered by saltwater intrusions; it is a challenge offering scalable innovation. Image: “Earth-Globespin” by NASA, 2015 Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Will New Orleans serve as a case example? Other salt water wedges can be found in the estuaries of the rivers including the Columbia River of Oregon and Washington states, or the Hudson in New York. And, saltwater intrusions are not restricted to the United States. The Po River in Italy suffered damage in the Po Plain where salt water from the Adriatic entered the freshwater river: drainage from agricultural land worsened the salinization process.  In Bangladesh, southwestern coastal regions are also threatened by saltwater intrusions causing soil damage and compromising drinking water: cyclones and storm surges exacerbate the threat. Seawater intrusion is now a major problem worldwide: it even has its own acronym (SWI). Alarmingly, 32% of world coastal cities are threatened by saltwater intrusion: 500 cities are in urgent danger.

“Tina Turner,” by photographer Les Zg, 1990. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

As you consider the Mississippi’s present problems and possible solutions, you might like to reflect upon some of the many songs written about the legendary river. For a sample, including songs about the original and first nation people who live there, explore Mississippi River music, click here. Or, listen to Russell Batiste, Jr., to Johnny Cash’s “Big River,” and Ike and Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary.”

Antonellini, Marco, et al., “Salt water intrusion in the coastal aquifer of the south Po Plain, Italy. December 2009. Hydrogeology Journal 16(8): 1541-1556. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226067653_Salt_water_intrusion_in_the_coastal_aquifer_of_the_southern_Po_Plain_Italy

Brewer, Keely “Burgeoning Mississippi riverboat industry grapples with increasing threats.” The Daily Memphian. 10 July 2023. https://www.nola.com/news/environment/flood-drought-threats-for-mississippi-riverboat-industry/article_ab3234a4-1153-11ee-95a8-f7e683994157.html

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Leaking or Lacking?” pages 5 – 14. Renewing the World: Casebook for Leadership in Water. 2023. ISBN: 9798985035933. https://renewingtheworld.com

Chu, Jennifer. “Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water.” 27 September 2023. MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2023/desalination-system-could-produce-freshwater-cheaper-0927

Coo, Tianzheng, Dongmei Han, Xianfang Song. “Past, present, and future of global seawater intrusion research: A bibliometric analysis.” 27 August 2021. Journal of Hydrology. Volume 603, Part A, December 2021, 126844. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/articleabs/pii/S0022169421008945

Fortin, Jacey, and Colbi Edmonds. “Battling a Water Crisis: Bottles, Barges, and Maybe a Quarter Billion-Dollar Pipe.” 29 September 2023. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/us/new-orleans-saltwater-intrusion.html

Klinkenberg, Dean. “Mississippi River Playlist.” Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/23gl91dNAgksllxBBVSd8s

LaPotin, Alina, et al., “Dual-stage atmospheric water harvesting device for scalable solar-driven water production.” 20 January 2021. Joule. Volume 5, Issue 1, pages 166-182.

New Orleans, City of. “Corrosion Control” Public Works Committee. 27 September 223. VIDEO. https://www.youtube.com/live/DS8X2ijS5LpM?ssi=0P5up0-lemTixu67.

Somssich, Marc. “How a Mangrove Tree Can Help to Improve the Salt Tolerance of Arabidopsis and Rice.” 14 December 2020. Plant Physiology 184(4): 1630-1632. PMID: 33277332. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7723112/

Tulane University, School of Public Health. “5 things to know about the saltwater intrusion of the Mississippi River.”  28 September 2023. https://sph.tulane.edu/5-things-know-about-saltwater-intrusion-mississippi-river

United States, National Park Service. “Songs of the Mississippi River.” https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/education/songs-of-the-mississippi-river.htm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

 

 

 

Appreciation to Jason W. Lusk for sharing research.

CITIES: Welcome to the Club

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“DJs at the club.” Photographer: Malagalabombonera, 2015. Image: wikimedia commons.

The wall fell down and so did a lot of other things on November 9, 1989. “No photos on the dance floor!” is an exhibition documenting Berlin’s club scene since the fall of the Wall. According to Felix Hoffmann, curator, “After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, clubs, bars, galleries, and studios began popping up everywhere, filing empty buildings, factories; the club scene became the driving force behind the city’s rejuvenation.” Hoffman believes that Germany was first reunited on the dance floor. The city was not officially re-united administratively until October 1990; meanwhile, there were yet no rules. Pop-up parties met in forests, drawing together thousands of people who were formerly kept apart. Many believe clubs like Metropol and Tresor fostered a dance and music culture that all people, despite their former differences, discovered together.

In Cities of Destiny, Arnold Toynbee explored the idea that some cities, at moments in history, generate a climate of exceptional capabilities; example, Athens in the age of Pericles or Cyrene. New capital cities, from Baghdad to Brasilia, are built-visions of a nation, offering both governance and culture. In the future, climate change may cause some coastal capitals to move inland; as Indonesia moves the capital from Jakarta, due to sea-rise, what might exemplify the new vision? Dance clubs could be a factor, for another reason:

Floors that give light (and sometimes delight). “Break Dance” by Kalka, 2008. Image: wikimedia commons.

If dance brings us together, Pavegen’s idea does double step: floors that generate electricity when people dance, or walk, over special tiles. Pavegen demonstrated the innovation at the London Olympics when the West Ham Tube station lit itself from electricity generated by 2012 Olympic Games attendees as they arrived at the tube step nearest the stadium. It may not be surprising that Pavegen got their early start in dance clubs.

Be it dance clubs, or floors in schools, or even sidewalks in cities, why not build floors of the future that give light? Perhaps moving because of rising seas, there could be cities with streets paved in a new kind of gold, like the legendary El Dorado. Streets, walkways, sportsways, buildings, and dance clubs generating renewable just-in-time clean electricity may become the foundation for cities of the future.

Building the World. “Jakarta: first capital to move due to sea rise.” 1 May 2019. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2019/o5/01/jakarta-first-capital-to-move-due-to-sea-rise

Building the World. “Dancing (and Walking) in the Light. 23 October 2015. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2015/10/23/dancing-and-walking-in-the-light/

Glynn, Paul. “Berlin Wall: ‘Germany was first re-united on the dance floor.'” 9 November 2019. BBC.com

Hoffmann, Felix, curator, C/O Berlin, “No Photos on the Dance Floor! Berlin 1989” 13/09/19 to 30/11/19. https://www.co-berlin/en/no-photos-dance-floor/

“No Photos on the Dance Floor!” YouTube. https://youtu.be/iKAvU9jyl/

Toynbee, Arnold J. editor. Cities of Destiny. Thames & Hudson, 1967. ISBN: 9780500250198.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unpor

Earth (Day) Song

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“Earth.” Image: NASA.gov.

Lil Dicky didn’t set out to make history, or even a song about the earth. At first, it was just an idea about animals with creatures voiced by a friends. But with friends like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Wiz Khalifa, and Leonardo DiCaprio, a song for Earth Day was born. Honoring an occasion with music is not a new idea: the Suez Canal’s opening was celebrated with Verdi’s Aida. Philip Glass composed Itaipú to honor the hydroelectric facility that brings power to Brazil and Paraguay. Glass was inspired for the commission by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to write a work based on the original Guaraní name for the river’s sound: “Singing Stone.” Paul Winter attended a lecture by Roger Payne at Rockefeller University, hearing recorded songs of whales; with then-governor of California Jerry Brown, Winter helped found “Whale Day” and began making music with the troubadours of the deep. Carl Sagan included cetic songs in the compendium of music sent into space. On this Earth Day, what will you do to honor, celebrate, and save the Earth? Give a listen: Earth.

Burd, David Andrew, aka Lil Dicky or LD, and friends. “Earth” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvuN_WvF1to

Glass, Philip. “Itaipú.” Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with thanks to William Keene. https://philipglass.com/compositions/itaipu/

Verdi, Giuseppe. “Aïda.” Hear the rendition by Luciano Pavarotti with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8rsOzPzYr8

Sagan, Carl. Murmurs of Earth. NY: Random House, 1978. https://books.google.com/books/about/Murmurs_of_Earth.html?id=oD90-PBNyr8C and, for your listening pleasure and inspiration: “Sounds of the Earth”: https://soundcloud.com/user-482195982/voyager-golden-record-sampler-1

Winter, Paul. http://www.paulwinter.com/paul-winter/musical-vision/, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdv9QJPVPIY.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen

Welcome, Spring

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“Barsana Holi Festival” by photographer Narender9. Image: wikimedia.

Color is associated with spring, perhaps nowhere more brilliantly than in India. In the land of the Taj Mahal, the iconic edifice famously inlaid with jewels like lapis lazuli and rubies, spring’s celebration of Holi invites people to bedeck each other with color and sometimes scented water. Dating to a 4th century poem, and featured in a 7th century play written by emperor Harsha, Holi is celebrated on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Phalguna; in 2019, the holiday is 21-22 March. The holiday has spiritual roots: some relate it to the love of Krishna and Radha; others, to the story of Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada, and Holika, whence the holiday takes its name. Are you feeling spring in the air?  Wear, or exchange, a bit of color to welcome spring. The vernal equinox 2019 occurs in Boston on 20 March at 17:58:00.

Suri, Manveena. “Why India celebrates Holi: The legends behind the festival of color.” 19 March 2019. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/travel/articlel/holi-festival-india/index.html.

India Times. “Consent is important; even on Holi.” https://www.facebook.com/indiatimes/videos/622357941510873?sfns=vmo.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen

Do you sing in the shower?

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Take the 2 Minute Shower Challenge. Image: “Animated waterdrops,” wikimedia.

Do you sing in the shower? Studies indicate 80% of us do. That quirk of human hum might help to save Cape Town, and maybe other places, too. South Africa’s famous city is suffering from three years of scant rainfall, coupled with rapid urban expansion. While solutions to the water crisis such as desalination of sea water, improved ground water collection, and other water engineering innovations are in development, residents have been asked to limit water use to 50 liters (13 gallons) per day. Cyrene, ancient Greek city-state, was founded in response to persistent drought on Thera (Santorini). Climate migrants fled the parched land to build a new city abundant of water and replete with potent silphium, a magic plant that appeared to foster science, arts, and even amatory expressions. Rome, when suffering a water crisis, built aqueducts to bring water to the city, enough for drinking, bathing, and water sculptures, honored by composer Resphigi in The Fountains of Rome. Music now inspires South Africa’s vision for honoring and saving water. “People like to sing in the shower,” observed Mariska Oosthuizen, head of brand at Sanlam, South African investment firm, that invited musical artists to create two-minute songs, free for download:

TWO-MINUTE SHOWER SONGS:

  • Kwesta, “Boom Shaka Laka“
  • Mi Casa, “Nana“
  • GoodLuck, “Taking It Easy“
  • Fifi Cooper, “Power of Gold“
  • Francois Van Coke, “Dit raak Beter“
  • Jimmy Nevis, “Day Dream“
  • Rouge, “Deja Vu“
  • Desmond & the Tutus, “Teenagers“
  • Youngster, “Wes Kaap“
  • Springbok Nude Girls, “Bubblegum On My Boots“

80% of residential water use happens in the bathroom. Showers use 10 liters (2.6 gallons) per minute.  Do you sing in the shower? Take the 2 Minute Shower Challenge and join the chorus in praise of water.

2minuteshowersongs.com

Kammies, Kieno  “MiCasa releases 2 minute shower song to save water.” 17 November 2017. KFM. www.kfm.co.za/articles/2017/11/17/musicians-step-in-to-entice-capetonians-into-saving-water.

Sanlam.”SA’s biggest artists are singing to save water. Are you?”  https://2minuteshowersongs.com.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

21 billion kilometer record

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“Sounds of Earth” Golden Record, launched in 1977, plays on. Take a listen. Image: nasa.gov.

It’s a shiny gold record compiled by a team headed by Carl Sagan, honored with the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. And it’s also just set a record, as the farthest human-made object from earth. Sending our best in sound from Bach and Beethoven (String Quartet 13) to Solomon Islands’ Panpipes, from the haunting whistle of a train to the coo of a baby and the sound of a kiss, the record contains an homage to our planet. “Sounds of the Earth” also includes greetings in 55 languages including cetic (whale). “Sounds of the Earth” was launched in 1977, on two Voyager space probes. And now, along with space residents who may be receiving the message, you can hear it, too.

Pescovitz, David. “Voyager’s Golden Record still plays on.” 5 September 2017. CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/04/opinions/pescovitz-opinion/index.html

Sagan, Carl. ed. (1973). Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CETI). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-19106-7. LCCN 73013999. OCLC 700752.

Sagan, Carl. Murmurs of Earth. NY: Random House, 1978. https://books.google.com/books/about/Murmurs_of_Earth.html?id=oD90-PBNyr8C

For your listening pleasure and inspiration: “Sounds of the Earth”: https://soundcloud.com/user-482195982/voyager-golden-record-sampler-1

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Take Five

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Dave Brubeck: Image courtesy of wikimedia.org.

“Take Five” is the best-selling jazz single in history; the song is written in quintuple time, hence the name of Paul Desmond’s jewel performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Five is also a lucky number for Singapore: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Taoist houses of worship have graced the city since the 1800’s. In Singapore, music of five languages syncopates the air: Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil are official, but some say Mandarin might be the most heard. Multiculturalism may be encouraged by educational standards: English is taught as lingua franca but each student in primary and secondary school also certifies in another of Singapore’s official languages. Should North America follow a similar policy regarding: English, French, Nahuatl, Navajo, and Spanish?

For more on Dave Brubeck, whose landmark album Time Out was the result of an international exchange in Turkey, and to hear “Take Five,” please see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/dave-brubeck-take-five-and-his-longtime-collaborator-credited-with-the-jazz-legends-biggest-hit/2012/12/05/6ae17f16-3f19-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_blog.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Monuments, Memory, and Culture

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Image courtesy of nih.gov.

Monument to love, built by 20,000 artisans using 43 different kinds of jewels, the Taj Mahal is Shah Jahan’s memorial to his beloved wife, Arjumand Banu Begam, also known as Mumtaz Mahal. The lovers met as teenagers and parted only when Mumtaz died on the battlefield (she traveled with him, no matter the circumstances) giving birth. Roman poet Horace wrote in his last ode, 3.30.1: Exegi monumentum aere perennius – “I have built a monument more lasting than bronze.” Poetry, music, libraries, laws, endowments, buildings, monuments, art – how should we honor, and remember? What is the role of memory in culture?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Singin’ in the Train

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SFOT Red Train 4 by James Murray from Wikimedia Commons, at wikimedia.org.

Haunting whistle in the night, hypnotic rhythm of wheels on rail, panting acceleration of uphill runs breathed heavily by a 2860 engine, sigh of brakes — these were sounds quite new in the landscapes of the world until rather recently. The business of constructing rails was introduced in England in the seventeenth century. British mapmaker and engineer Captain John Montressor built the first American railway in Lewiston, New York in 1764. Nearly a century later, the Golden Spike was driven, completing the Transcontinental Railroad; it was now possible to traverse the country in 10 days instead of six months. The Transcontinental Railroad (1869), Canadian Pacific Railway (1885) and the Trans-Siberian Railway (1904) introduced soundscape to the landscape — the train whistle. Japan’s Shinkansen(1964) added a new note: each commuter station is announced by an electronic tune, composed to reflect the culture of the district. For a train soundscape, enjoy a listen (and look) via YouTube “Sound of Royal Hudson steam engine with O Canada horn ‘Good Times Express'” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQNQbuXjF2M). Finding music in the midst of urban sound, George Gershwin who included in “American in Paris” the blare of French taxi horns, might agree with Mozart: “Music is continuous, listening is intermittent.” As new trains, and cars, are developed, should musicians be on the team to create the ideal soundscape?

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Charles Ives’ “The New River”

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London traffic, from The Guardian, at guardian.co.uk.

The American composer’s “The New River” is a song that in title might sound as if it were about England’s human-made waterway, but instead Ives talks about a different kind of river, one of noise. The song for voice and piano has these lyrics:

“Down the river comes a noise!

It is not the voice of rolling waters.

It’s only the sound of man,

phonographs and gasoline,

dancing halls and tambourine;

Killed is the blare of the hunting horn.

The River Gods are gone.

Fortunately, the New River in England continues to preserve its bucolic nature through walking paths designed to help the public admire the English countryside not too far from London. In fact, some would say that without the beauty of the walking paths and their healthy lifestyle, Britain could have been less attractive due to the river of noise. Consider London Monday morning traffic reports.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.