Urbanization News

November 22, 2024

Top Headlines

Climate-Driven Hazards Increases Risk for Millions of Coastal Residents, Study Finds

Nov. 21, 2024 — A new study estimates that a 1-meter sea level rise by 2100 would affect over 14 million people and $1 trillion worth of property along the Southeast Atlantic ...

Populations Overheat as Major Cities Fail Canopy Goals

Nov. 19, 2024 — A new study measuring access to nature for eight major global cities found most still have inadequate canopy cover, despite access to an abundance of ...

GPS System for Microorganisms Could Revolutionize Police Work

Nov. 7, 2024 — A research team developed an AI tool that traces back the most recent places you have been to. The tool acts like a satellite navigation system, but instead of guiding you to your hotel, it identifies the geographical source of microorganisms. This ...

Locally Optimized Urban Form Reduces Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Nov. 6, 2024 — While atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are higher than ever before, an estimated 2.5 billion additional people are expected to integrate into urban areas worldwide by 2050, making reduced urban CO2 emissions a priority. A group of scientists ...

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Revitalizing Neighborhoods in the Wake of Aging Populations

Nov. 19, 2024 — Researchers examined the Senboku Hottokenai Network Project through a combination of case study and action research methodologies. The results of this study shed new light on the importance of ...

Sewage Surveillance Proves Powerful in Combating Antimicrobial Resistance

Nov. 6, 2024 — Sewage surveillance is emerging as a powerful tool in the fight against antimicrobial resistance with the potential to protect vulnerable communities more ...

Trees Cool Better Than Reflective Roofs in Vulnerable Houston Neighborhoods

Nov. 1, 2024 — As heatwaves become more intense, cities are looking for strategies that can help keep neighborhoods cooler. A new tool has already helped identify potential solutions in Houston, a city where the ...

Reversing Environmental Decline: Lessons from African Communities

Oct. 30, 2024 — In rural Africa, where livelihoods are often tied directly to the land, environmental degradation poses a critical threat to both ecosystems and people's well-being. New research reveals ways to ...

Biodiversity Law That Forces Builders to Compensate for Nature Loss Could Be Twice as Effective, Experts Claim

Oct. 31, 2024 — Recent rules that require all new building and road projects in England to address and offset their impact on nature are excellent in principle but ...

Are We Missing the Mark on Biodiversity? 90% of Countries Ignore Key Behavior Changes

Oct. 28, 2024 — There is a yawning gap between national policies to enhance biodiversity and the individual and small group behavioral changes that are critical to ...

Ripples of Colonialism: Decarbonization Strategies Perpetuate Inequalities in Human Rights

Oct. 25, 2024 — A new study of a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo finds that the necessary process of decarbonization is repeating and recreating colonial ...

Plastic Pollution Harms Bees, Review Finds

Oct. 16, 2024 — A new review systematically shows the harmful effects of nano- and microplastics on bees and other beneficial insects. Their function as pollinators is impaired by the plastic particles. This harbors ...

New Temperatures in Two Thirds of Key Tropical Forest

Oct. 15, 2024 — Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research ...

Climate Change Impacts Internal Migration Worldwide

Oct. 15, 2024 — The influence of climate change on migration, both current and future, has garnered significant attention from the public and policymakers over the past decade. A new study has provided the first ...

Land-Use Policy Rethink Vital to Hit Net Zero

Nov. 14, 2024 — Changing how land-use subsidies are implemented would give UK taxpayers better value for money and improve chances of meeting environmental targets such as Net ...

Power of Aesthetic Species on Social Media Boosts Wildlife Conservation Efforts, Say Experts

Nov. 8, 2024 — Facebook and Instagram can boost wildlife conservation efforts through public awareness and engagement, according to a new ...

Soil Sampling in Houston's Greater Fifth Ward Reveals Toxic Levels of Lead in Yards, Play Areas

Nov. 7, 2024 — Study results showed the highest detectable concentrations of heavy metals were lead, barium and chromium. All samples except for lead had less than or the same levels expected for an urban area. The ...

UNH Helps Community Document Skeletal Remains Found on Historic 'Poor Farm'

Oct. 10, 2024 — On a bright autumn afternoon, a plain wooden box crafted by a local cabinet shop containing skeletal remains was returned to its final resting place during a simple reburial ceremony in Brentwood. ...

Increase Access to Nature in All Daily Environments and in Education

Oct. 8, 2024 — Although access to nature is a basic human right, people's actual use of green spaces is subject to inequalities. A research team analyzed what conditions make it more likely that people are ...

Cool Roofs Could Have Saved Lives During London's Hottest Summer, Say Researchers

Oct. 1, 2024 — As many as 249 lives could have been saved in London during the 2018 record-setting hot summer had the city widely adopted cool roofs, estimates a new ...

Where Flood Policy Helps Most -- And Where It Could Do More

Sep. 30, 2024 — A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program provides important flood insurance relief, researchers say. But due to its design, it's used more in communities with greater means to ...

Honey, I Shrunk the City: What Should Declining Japanese Cities Do?

Sep. 30, 2024 — A researcher examined the nonlinear multidimensional factors that correlate with population changes according to city size. The results indicate that population changes correlated with the financial ...

Growing Divide: Rural Men Are Living Shorter, Less Healthy Lives Than Their Urban Counterparts

Sep. 25, 2024 — With an aging population and fewer physicians available, the burden on rural communities is set to ...

Multilingual Gossip in Elizabethan London

Sep. 24, 2024 — Stranger churches in early modern London had 'eyes everywhere' to hear, spread and dispel gossip in multiple languages, according to new ...

European Green Deal: A Double-Edged Sword for Global Emissions

Sep. 20, 2024 — The European Green Deal will bring the emission of greenhouse gases in the European Union down, but at the same time causes a more than a twofold increase in emissions outside its ...

If You Build It, Will They Come? Wildlife Corridors Need Smarter Design

Sep. 18, 2024 — A study reveals that current methods of designing and evaluating wildlife corridors may not be adequate to ensure wildlife protection, and suggests that Best Management Practices should include ...

People Aren't Volunteering as Much These Days: What Gives?

Sep. 17, 2024 — Volunteering used to be a mainstay of U.S. culture. But in recent years, giving back to their community hasn't played as big a role in many Americans' lives. New research suggests the ...

Hot Streets, Historic Bias: Effects on Neighborhood Walking in Older Adults

Sep. 11, 2024 — Redlining from the 1930s, marked minority and low-income neighborhoods as 'hazardous,' which influenced mortgage and insurance decisions. Results show that redlined areas have less ...

Five Lessons to Level Up Conservation Successfully

Sep. 6, 2024 — Conservation needs to scale successfully to protect nature. A new paper takes lessons from around the world to show how that might be ...

New Tool to Analyze Embodied Carbon in More Than 1 Million Buildings in Chicago

Sep. 4, 2024 — The impact of embodied carbon in the built environment has been difficult to assess, due to a lack of data. To address that knowledge gap civil and environmental engineers have created a new tool to ...

Providing Blooms All Season Long May Be the Key to Attracting Pollinators, No Matter What Landscape Your Garden Is Near

Sep. 4, 2024 — A diverse and abundant flower planting that provides flowers in bloom all season may be more important to bees and other pollinators than whatever is surrounding the flower garden, according to a new ...

Traditional Infrastructure Design Often Makes Extreme Flooding Events Worse

Sep. 4, 2024 — Much of the nation's stormwater infrastructure, designed decades to a century ago to prevent floods, can exacerbate flooding during the severe weather events that are increasing around the ...

Engineers Develop AI System for Real-Time Sensing of Flooded Roads

Aug. 28, 2024 — Roadway-related incidents are a leading cause of flood fatalities nationwide, but limited flood-reporting tools make it difficult to evaluate road conditions in real ...

Socioeconomics Shape Children's Connection to Nature More Than Where They Live

Aug. 23, 2024 — The income and education levels of a child's environment determine their relationship to nature, not whether they live in a city or the countryside. The results run counter to the assumption ...