Jacquay

Horizontal glaciers are formed when farmers redirect glacier meltwater into channels and pipes,then carefully siphon it off into a series of basins made from stones and earth.Villagers minutely control the release of water into these reservoirs,waiting for each new layer to freeze before filling the basin with another wave.In early spring,these frozen pools begin to melt,supplying villagers with irrigation for their fields.

Take Ladakh, a high-altitude desert region in northern India.It sits in the rain shadow of the Himalayas and receives on average fewer than ten centimeters of rain per year.As local glaciers shrink because of climate change,regional water scarcity is increasing.And so, local people have started growing their own glaciers as insurance against this uncertainty.These glaciers come in two types: horizontal, and vertical.

Under their protective coverings,these glacierets transform into fully active glaciers that grow each year with additional snowfall.Those then serve as lasting reserves of water that farmers can use to irrigate their crops.These practices have spread to other cultures,where people are creating their own versions of glaciers and applying them to solve serious modern challenges around water supplies.

Artificially growing a glacier,however, is completely different.At the confluence of three great mountain ranges,the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush,some local cultures have believed for centuries that glaciers are alive.And what's more,that certain glaciers can have different genders including male and female.Local Glacier Growers reednew glaciers by grafting together r marrying?fragments of ice from male and female glaciers,then covering them with charcoal, wheat husks, cloths, or willow branches so they can reproduce.

Swiss people, utilizing modern glacier growing technology,created their first stupa in 2016 in the Swiss Alps.There are plans for over 100 more in villages in Pakistan,Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.Perhaps one day we'll be able to harness our homegrown glaciers well enough to build whole walls of ice this time not for keeping people out,but to enable life in some of the planet harshest landscapes.

This inverted form minimizes the amount of surface area it exposes to the sun in the spring and summer.That ensures that the mini-glacier melts slowly and provides a reliable supply of water to feed the farmers crops.These methods may be ancient,but they're becoming more relevant as climate change takes its toll on our planet.In fact, people are now growing their own glaciers in many regions beyond Ladakh.

Local people make vertical glaciers using the meltwater from already-existing glaciers high above their villages.The meltwater enters channels that run downhill,flowing until it reaches a crop site where it bursts forth from a pipe pointing straight into the air.When winter temperatures dip,this water freezes as it arcs out of the pipe,ultimately forming a 50 meter ice sculpture called a stupa,shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone.

In the wild,glaciers require three conditions to grow:Snowfall, cold temperatures, and time.First, a great deal of snow falls and accumulates.Cold temperatures then ensure that the stacked up snow persists throughout the winter, spring, summer, and fall.Over the following years, decades, and centuries,the pressure of the accumulated snow transforms layers into highly compacted glacial ice.

No one knows how historically accurate that particular story is,but remarkably, it draws on fact:For centuries, in the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges,people have been growing glaciers and using these homemade bodies of ice as sources of drinking water and irrigation for their crops.But before we get to that fascinating phenomenon,it's important to understand the difference between glaciers that grow in the wild,and those that humans create.

In the 13th Century,Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia,swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his expanding Mongol Empire.With his vast armies he became almost unstoppable.But, legend has it that there was one obstacle that even the impressive Khan couldn't overcome:A towering wall of ice,grown by locals across a mountain pass to stop the Khan armies from invading their territory.

So, how can we balance our love of sneakers with the need for sustainability?First, designers should streamline design elements and focus on eco-friendly materials.Factories need to develop energy efficient manufacturing processes that consolidate steps and sneaker parts.And consumers should support companies using clean energy and ethical manufacturing processes.We can also buy fewer shoes, wear them for longer,and donate those we no longer need.So no matter what your style, we can all take steps towards a sustainable future.

But for someone running 20 miles a week,a pair of running shoes will start wearing out after roughly 6 months.Since the shoes are made of so many different materials,they e almost impossible to break down into recyclable components.20% of these shoes are incinerated, while the rest are tossed into landfills where they can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

Most brands don own or operate their factories,so the plants they work with are in countries with little to no worker protection laws.As a result, many laborers earn below the living wage,and are exposed to harmful chemicals, like toxic glue fumes.When manufacturing is complete,the shoes are packaged and transported to stores around the globe.For many, these shoes could last years.

Once the components arrive at the assembly line,they undergo cutting, pouring, melting, baking, cooling, and gluing,before the final products can be stitched together.The assembly of a typical sneaker requires more than 360 steps,and accounts for the remaining 20% of a sneaker environmental impact.The dispersion of factories fuels another problem as well: labor abuse.

But more than two-thirds of the shoe carbon impact comes from the next step:manufacturing.A typical sneaker is comprised of 65 discrete parts,each of which is produced by specialized machinery.This means it cheaper for factories to mass-produce each piece separately rather than manufacturing every part under one roof.But the transportation required to ship these pieces to one assembly plant emits even more CO2.

The outer soles of most shoes are made of rubber that gone through a process called vulcanization.This technique adds sulfur to superheated raw rubber to create a material that both elastic and sturdy.Until recently, sneakers used natural rubber for this process.But today, most outer soles are made with a synthetic blend of natural rubber and byproducts from coal and oil.Producing these materials accounts for 20% of a sneaker carbon footprint.

Mining the fossil fuels that make up these materials emits tons of greenhouse gases.And processing those raw ingredients into synthetic textiles also uses a lot of energy,further compounding that pollution.Some sneaker tops are made from natural sources like leather,but tanning this material relies on chromium;a carcinogenic chemical that can damage freshwater ecosystems.

Sneakers alone generate 313 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year,which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 66 million cars.To better understand your shoe carbon footprint,let dive into the anatomy of a sneaker.For starters, the heel, insole, midsole, and upper layer are usually made from synthetic textiles like polyester, nylon, latex,and polyurethane.

No country buys more sneakers than the United States,where people purchase 3 pairs a year on average.To meet this demand, roughly 23 billion shoes are produced each year,mostly in factories across China and Southeast Asia.But making shoes has become more complicated, more labor-intensive,and in some ways, more dangerous,for the workers involved and for our planet.Shoe manufacturing accounts for roughly one-fifth of the fashion industry carbon emissions.

Australians call them unners The British know them as rainers.Americans refer to them as ennis shoes?or neakers.Whatever you call them, these rubber-soled, casual shoes are worn by billions of people around the world.Originally invented in the late 19th century,these simple canvas and rubber creations have changed a lot since they first hit the pavement.Today, sneaker consumption is at an all-time high.