Urbanization News

August 18, 2016

Homes in Wealthier Neighborhoods Have More Bugs

Angry Birds Found More in the City

Biodiversity Loss: Beyond the Tipping Point?

Solar Panels Study Reveals Impact On Earth

Latest Headlines

updated 8:04pm EDT

Twitter Shows Promise in Rapid Assessment of Collective Traumas' Local Impact

Aug. 17, 2016 — An alternative to using Twitter geotags and hashtags to identify community members who have experienced collective trauma, such as a school shooting, ... read more

Biodiversity Begins at Home: Saving Old Villages Helps Save Farmland Birds

Aug. 17, 2016 — Preserving old villages and farm buildings – and being more creative in designing new rural homes – could help halt the decline in European farmland bird populations, ... read more

Ecosystems in the Southeastern US Are Vulnerable to Climate Change

Aug. 11, 2016 — At least several southeastern US ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of present and future climate change, according to two new reports. At-risk ecosystems occur in states ranging from ... read more

Historically Robust Natural Ecosystems Could Collapse Due to Climate Change, Human Activity

Aug. 11, 2016 — Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability, warn experts in a new ... read more

Tighter Air Pollution Standards May Save Thousands of Lives, Greatly Improve Public Health

Aug. 10, 2016 — Reducing outdoor concentrations of two air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter to levels below those set by the US Environmental Protection ... read more

People Not Technology Will Drive Success of Autonomous Vehicles

Aug. 2, 2016 — As the world moves closer to autonomous and self-driving vehicles, road safety experts are turning from technology to psychology to better understand the road to safer ... read more

Study: Bioenergy Decisions Involve Wildlife Habitat and Land Use Trade-Offs

Aug. 1, 2016 — New research finds that choosing how to meet bioenergy goals means making trade-offs about which wildlife species and ecosystems will be most impacted. The work focuses on the southeastern United ... read more

Study Finds Communities Need to Be Proactive About Fracking

July 28, 2016 — What are communities doing to address the potential adverse effects of fracking? Not a lot, according to the results of a new ... read more

Cities Face Dramatic Increase in Water Treatment Spending When Watersheds Are Developed

July 25, 2016 — A new global study has found that one in three large cities spend 50 percent more on water treatment costs as a result of damage to the ecological ... read more

Here's Why Run-Down Schools Trigger Low Test Scores

July 21, 2016 — More than 230 New York City public middle schools were involved in a study that found a chain reaction at work: leaking toilets, smelly cafeterias, broken furniture, and run-down classrooms made ... read more

Hong Kong Farmers Protest Over Tycoon Land Grab

Raw: Lava Within 500 Feet of Main Town Road

Overcrowding Has Public Schools Going Vertical

3-Wheeled Car Coming Soon to US Roads

Faster Method of Rebuilding Destroyed Homes

Aug. 18, 2016 — Texas legislators are investigating the benefits of RAPIDO, a pilot program that dramatically reduces the time it takes to rebuild homes destroyed by natural ... read more

Homeowners Value Property Value Boost Brought About by City Trees

Aug. 17, 2016 — If a city plants trees near a residential area, most homeowners value the likely subsequent increase in their property values, a new study shows. And they’re willing to pay an average of $7 more ... read more

Low-Income Kids Less Likely to Receive Strabismus Diagnoses

Aug. 17, 2016 — Back to school eye exams may not be the norm for all kids. A large study shows strabismus is diagnosed much less in poor communities which puts kids at risk for permanent vision ... read more

Flint Lead Crisis Adds Up to $395 Million in Social Costs

Aug. 8, 2016 — The social costs related to lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, amount to $395 million from April 2014, when the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, to the present day, ... read more

Adaptation to Climate Risks: Political Affiliation Matters

Aug. 4, 2016 — A new study reveals that those who affiliate with the Democratic Party have different views than those who vote Republican on the following issues: the likelihood of floods occurring, adopting ... read more

Researchers Work to Understand Causes of Search and Rescue in the Arctic

Aug. 3, 2016 — Search and rescue operations in Nunavut have more than doubled over the past decade. In the communities of the vast northern Canadian territory, it's commonly felt that climate change is one ... read more

Lack of Pharmacy Access Sends Some Patients Back to the Hospital

Aug. 2, 2016 — Hospital readmissions, a $17 billion annual problem, are higher in rural, remote or smaller communities that sometimes have significantly less access to pharmacies, according to a study published ... read more

Scientists Call for Increased Federal Investment in Sustainable Agriculture

July 28, 2016 — Based on a new analysis of federal funding from the US Department of Agriculture, researchers say there is an urgent need for increased investment in research and development aimed at making ... read more

Screening for Suicide Risk Among Urban Children Vitally Important

July 20, 2016 — Screening for suicide risk among publicly insured urban children who are experiencing psychological distress is vitally important, finds a new ... read more

Elderly Japanese Most Resilient in Wake of Triple Disaster, Study Finds

July 19, 2016 — Older people in Japan are more resistant to the impacts of disasters on their health than younger generations, a study ... read more

How Can We Slow Down Urban Sprawl? 'Use Land Sparingly'

July 6, 2016 — There's a lot more we could be doing to combat urban sprawl -- and European countries are leading the way, say ... read more

New Study Compares Transportation Energy Efficiency of Local and Conventional Food

June 30, 2016 — A marketing specialist has compared the transportation efficiencies of the conventional and local fruit and vegetable transportation networks in the Knoxville-area surrounding the University's ... read more

Conservation Key to Curbing Emissions from Palm Oil Agriculture in Africa

June 28, 2016 — As oil palm production expands from Southeast Asia into Central Africa, a new study finds that converting Africa's forests into monoculture plantations could trigger significant carbon emissions ... read more

Scientists Find Two Ways to Limit the Number of Heat-Related Deaths from Climate Change

June 23, 2016 — By the 2080s, as many as 3,331 people could die every year from exposure to heat during the summer months in New York City. The high estimate is based on a new model -- the first to account for ... read more

Computer Models Show Park Microclimates Improve City Life

June 24, 2016 — Computer modelling based on microclimate data from a Malaysian public park has shown how adding trees and grass can improve living conditions in dense city ... read more

Mapping the Subway's Microbiome

June 21, 2016 — Researchers aims to map the microbiome of public transit systems in 54 cities worldwide, including New York, Hong Kong, Paris or ... read more

Threats to Habitat Connectivity as Sea Waters Inundate Coastal Areas

June 20, 2016 — By the year 2100, sea levels might rise as much as 2.5 meters above their current levels, which would seriously threaten coastal cities and other low-lying areas. In turn, this would force animals to ... read more

Urban Bird Species Risk Dying Prematurely Due to Stress

June 20, 2016 — Birds of the species Parus Major (great tit) living in an urban environment are at greater risk of dying young than great tits living outside cities. Research results in Sweden show that urban great ... read more

California 'Street Tree' Benefits Valued at $1 Billion

June 14, 2016 — Trees lining Californian streets provide benefits worth $1 billion, a new study estimates. From carbon storage ($10.32 million) and removal of air pollutants ($18.15 million) to interception of ... read more

Crash Study Aims to Make Roads Safer

June 13, 2016 — Fatal bicycle and pedestrian crashes are on the rise in Wisconsin, where an urban planning professor has created a list of policy recommendations and urban design solutions to make the state's ... read more

Thursday, August 18, 2016