Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education
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154 <strong>Designing</strong> ecological <strong>Habitats</strong><br />
Dr. Scherch’s HAM<br />
radio station in<br />
Seattle.<br />
and renewably-energized communication systems can provide and support<br />
a host of related benefits. For example, in times of emergency, Ward<br />
Silver, N0AX, (2004) notes that ‘because of their numbers and reliance on<br />
uncomplicated infrastructure, hams are able to bounce back quickly when<br />
a natural disaster or other emergency makes communications over normal<br />
channels impossible’ (p.13). Amateur radio systems can provide affordable,<br />
locally-maintained, life-long communication alternatives or complements to<br />
purchased commercial and corporate systems.<br />
Moreover, internet and cell phone systems are actually quite fragile,<br />
expensive and energy-intensive. Comprised of many types of hardware and<br />
software technologies, and representing myriad natural resource uses and<br />
origins, these networks perform well when all is going well, where redundant<br />
systems of hardware, routine back-ups and security systems among<br />
other features have created a reliable, high-performance, high-technology<br />
experience. Yet, in face of economic distress, energy transitions and global<br />
climate change impacts, these complex operations require increasingly<br />
tenuous financial and energy inputs to meet expectations and demands.<br />
Also, the fast-paced evolution and obsolescence of many technologies<br />
like phones, modems, computers, peripherals and the like, create tremendous<br />
volumes of new and abandoned equipment. We all participate in the wholesystem,<br />
life-cycle impacts of modern technology (ideally from cradle to<br />
cradle) so current use and convenience should be calibrated by anticipated<br />
burdens for future generations.<br />
Thirdly, disruptions of service due to energy outages, hardware failures<br />
and long replacement supply-chains, and/or emergencies prompting the<br />
need of government services to assume control of vital communication<br />
systems can interfere with if not curtail normal operational use. AR systems<br />
are not the panacea to these and other issues, though they can potentially<br />
afford benefits in the following ways:
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