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Building projects great and small have their impact on the environment. Yesterday's solutions become today's problems, which we must then apply ourselves to solve. The built up world that we have made for ourselves is filled with examples of just what this means. But not all building and construction is detrimental. As we learn about the environment, we can use what we build to enhance the environment; but this is something of a two edged sword. There is nothing that we do that has a double influence; both positive and negative.

Agriculture has shaped entire landscapes, eradicating forests and sculpting mountains. Monoculture cash crops results in crash economies. Biodiversity disappears and with it comes a new ecosystem seeking some kind of balance. But even here we intervene to keep mono cash crops intact. Agriculture has gone a long way to feed humanity, but this is something of a tradeoff. The fact remains that despite our ability to reshape the land to grow more crops, many people still go hungry. Then there are the cultivated parks, greenhouses and gardens that attract attention around the world because of their beauty. These regions tend to be well kept and healthy. They are an excellent learning facility on biodiversity.

Mega projects like the Three Gorges Dam, Aswan, the Suez Canal, The Panama Canal and Hoover Dam all have had major impacts on the environment. Shipping locks on the St. Lawrence has allowed foreign species like the lamprey eel to invade the Great Lakes and destroy resident eco-systems. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China has forced millions of peasants out of their homes as Chinese power magnates seek their fortune in electrical power. The displaced people have no were to go but in mega slums, extensive pollution and dire poverty. Anyone protesting this is removed and "re-educated." Many are never seen again. The Aswan High Dam was built on the Nile River for similar reasons, but it stopped the inundation of the lower Nile regions. The silt got trapped behind the dam instead of being delivered to the delta. The silt has to be dredged and the delta is slowly disappearing as is the nutrient rich soil in the lower Nile region. The Suez Canal allowed the cross transfer of species between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, though it shortened shipping routes away from the dangerous seas at the horn of Africa. The Panama Canal has a similar effect between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Hoover Dam has backed up so

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