Accurate, high-temporal-resolution population data are critical for urban planning and emergency response as cities grow. Traditional population census data, with their slow update cycles, cannot meet these demands. Researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo have developed a new framework that combines remote sensing and mobile phone data, producing monthly population maps down to the census block level, providing more detailed population insights.
Tag: Geography
Benjamin Gwinneth: Uncovering the effects of past climate change
Newly appointed geography professor Benjamin Gwinneth uses innovative geochemical methods, such as measuring fecal molecules, to understand how climate variability shaped ancient populations.
Cloud empires: Mapping the geopolitics of data infrastructures
The trend towards hyperscale cloud infrastructures is creating powerful global gatekeepers of computational capability. We must understand the geopolitical implications.
Study enhances forest monitoring accuracy in Mexico
Led by the University of Delaware, a team of researchers assessed forest extent in Mexico using satellite data and ground inventories with the goal of improving accuracy in forest monitoring. The research will improve future data collection efforts and enhance decision-making for forest management.
Did Eurasia’s dominant East-West axis “turn the fortunes of history”?
Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997) is Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning effort to explain the contrasting histories of Native Americans, Africans and aboriginal Australians vs Europeans and Asians.
Urban heat: Research may point the way to cooling steamy cities
New research from Binghamton University, State University of New York might point the way to cooling steamy cities. A Binghamton professor has received a grant for his work pertaining to the urban heat island effect in cities.
U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths More Than Quadrupled from 1999 to 2020
Regardless of race, age, geography or urbanization, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2020, causing 1,013,852 deaths. The rates increased 4.4 times from 6.9 per 100,000 in 1999 to 30 per 100,000 in 2020.
Is Colombia’s deadly Nevado del Ruiz on the verge of a major eruption?
Hundreds of villagers who live in the shadow of the Western Hemisphere’s deadliest volcano, Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz, have been on edge for nearly a month ever since the 17,000-foot-tall mountain started spewing plumes of ash and steam high into the atmosphere, indicating that an eruption could be imminent.
Researchers use 21st century methods to record 2,000 years of ancient graffiti in Egypt
Simon Fraser University researchers are learning more about ancient graffiti—and their intriguing comparisons to modern graffiti—as they produce a state-of-the-art 3D recording of the Temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt.
New Method of Donor-Lung Distribution Expected to Decrease Deaths Among Those on Transplant Waiting List
A new method of donor-lung distribution is projected to decrease the number of candidate deaths who are on the waitlist for lung transplant, according to a study by Cleveland Clinic and the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) published in The American Journal of Transplantation.
Spatial distribution of anti-Asian hate tweets during COVID-19
Anti-Asian hate language surged between January and March of 2020 with clusters of hateful tweets spread across the contiguous U.S. that varied in size, strength distribution and location. This is the first step towards helping officials predict where online racism may spill over to the streets as a public health threat.
Study looks at Impact of Native American Land Use on Forests
In a new article published in the Journal of Biogeography, SUNY Geneseo geographer Associate Professor Stephen Tulowiecki and four undergraduate researchers examined the influence of Native American land use on the composition of historic forests in the Northeastern United States. The team found that Native American settlements and land use had a lesser effect on the distribution of tree species across the region when compared to climate and soil conditions.
Study led by NUS researchers reveals climate change increases fluvial sediment in the high mountains of Asia
To examine the impact of a warmer and wetter climate in High Mountain Asia, Professor Lu Xixi and Dr Dongfeng Li from the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences led an international team of researchers to conduct a new analysis of observations of headwater rivers in the area. The study revealed that fluvial sediment loads have been increasing substantially, even much faster than river water discharge. This has important implications for water quality, hydropower development and maintenance, and for the riverine carbon cycle.
How society’s inequalities showed up in COVID outcomes
During the 2020 lockdowns, residents of affluent areas in Salt Lake County, Utah were able to stay at home more than residents of the least affluent zip codes, suggesting that the “essential worker” occupations of the least-affluent areas, which are also the highest minority populations, placed them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19. Subsequently, the least-affluent zip codes experienced nearly ten times the COVID incidence rate of affluent areas.
Extreme heat, dry summers main cause of tree death in Colorado’s subalpine forests
Even in the absence of bark beetle outbreaks and wildfire, trees in Colorado subalpine forests are dying at increasing rates from warmer and drier summer conditions, found recent University of Colorado Boulder research. The study, published in the May print…
Juicy past of favorite Okinawan fruit revealed
Citrus fruits from the mandarin family have important commercial value but how their diversity arose has been something of a mystery Researchers analyzed the genomes of the East Asian varieties and found a second center of diversity in the Ryukyu…
New tracking system monitors danger to rainforests
Scientists develop novel new indicator for monitoring danger to the world’s rainforests, which are losing capacity to cycle carbon and water
New study reports strong indications of freshened groundwater offshore the Maltese Islands
Study is a product of the MARCAN project, led by the University of Malta
The Indus basin: Untapped potential for long-term energy storage
Hydropower has massive potential as a source of clean electricity, and the Indus basin can be a key player in fulfilling long-term energy storage demands across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. IIASA researchers explored the role the Indus…
Medical debt in US
What The Study Did: Credit reports were analyzed to estimate the amount of medical debt in collections nationally and by geographic region and income group and its association with Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Authors: Neale Mahoney, Ph.D.,…
Unsustainable Arctic shipping risks accelerating damage to the Arctic environment
The economic and environmental pros and cons of melting Arctic ice creating shorter shipping routes through the polar region are weighed up in ground-breaking research from UCL experts in energy and transport.
Living near woodlands is good for children and young people’s mental health
Analysis of children and young people’s proximity to woodlands has shown links with better cognitive development and a lower risk of emotional and behavioural problems, in research led by UCL and Imperial College London scientists that could influence planning decisions…
NGA funds RIT researchers to explore the limits of spectral remote sensing imaging systems
Principal investigator Professor John Kerekes receives up to $1 million for fundamental research
Melting High Mountain Asia glaciers are revealed as a potential source of greenhouse gases
The cryosphere, a term used to describe the areas of the Earth’s surface where water exists in solid form, plays an important role in regulating the Earth’s climate. Due to cryospheric retreat; for example, the melting Greenland ice sheet in…
Arrival of land plants changed Earth’s climate control system
The arrival of plants on land about 400 million years ago may have changed the way the Earth naturally regulates its own climate, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London) and Yale.
Politecnico di Torino and Ithaca together for the production of maps for the European Agency Frontex
TURIN, 14 July 2021 – Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, since 2004 engaged in migration control, border management and whose responsibilities, extended in 2016 to the fight against cross-border crime and search and rescue services in the…
New study from Monterey Bay Aquarium puts disparities of climate change on the map
New research, led by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, illustrates the disparity between the narrow origins and far-reaching impacts of greenhouse emissions responsible for disrupting the global climate system. Published in Science Advances today, the study was built upon the most…
Poor and minority communities suffer more from extreme heat in US cities
Excess urban heat is common within cities, but not all communities burden the consequences equally, according to new UC San Diego research
Ecosystem destruction endangers local soy agriculture in Brazil
New research: Agriculture-driven ecosystem destruction turns up local temperatures, eats up billions in soy revenue in Brazil
Rise in Southeast Asia forest clearance increasing greenhouse gases
Forest clearance in Southeast Asia is accelerating, leading to unprecedented increases in carbon emissions, according to new research. The findings, revealed by a research team including University of Leeds academics, show that forests are being cut down at increasingly higher…
Field biologists and NASA planes to map biodiversity in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region
Scientists from the U.S. and South Africa are launching a campaign to map marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species and ecosystems in one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots: the Greater Cape Floristic Region at the southwestern edge of South Africa.
Coastal wetlands are nature’s flood defences
They offer more protection than we thought, estuaries study shows
Mapping biodiversity in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region
The region includes two Global Biodiversity Hotspots; the project will document the distribution and function of species and ecosystems
Ancient ostrich eggshell reveals new evidence of extreme climate change thousands of years ago
Evidence from an ancient eggshell has revealed important new information about the extreme climate change faced by human early ancestors. The research shows parts of the interior of South Africa that today are dry and sparsely populated, were once wetland…
Bringing chemical production and manufacturing together
Development of a small, flexible and cost-effective acrylonitrile modular reactor could give carbon fiber producers better access to affordable feedstock
Continental pirouettes
Supervolcano fed from Earth’s mantle caused crustal plates to rotate
New model accurately predicts how coasts will be impacted by storms and sea-level rise
Coastal communities across the world are increasingly facing up to the huge threats posed by a combination of extreme storms and predicted rises in sea levels as a result of global climate change. However, scientists at the University of Plymouth…
Heavy rain and heat — New details on climate change
Possible climate changes on county level — a new climate service from GERICS
Study: Oil spill impact on Canadian arctic, the environment and indigenous peoples
As melting sea ice brings more ships through the Northwest Passage, new research shows that Canada must prepare for the costs and consequences of an Arctic oil spill
Changes in Earth’s orbit enabled the emergence of complex life
Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that changes in Earth’s orbit may have allowed complex life to emerge and thrive during the most hostile climate episode the planet has ever experienced. The researchers – working with colleagues in…
NASA space lasers map meltwater lakes in Antarctica with striking precision
From above, the Antarctic Ice Sheet might look like a calm, perpetual ice blanket that has covered Antarctica for millions of years. But the ice sheet can be thousands of meters deep at its thickest, and it hides hundreds of…
Global network transforming tropical forest research
A huge global network of researchers is working together to take the pulse of our global tropical forests. ForestPlots.net, which is co-ordinated from the University of Leeds, brings together more than 2,500 scientists who have examined millions of trees to…
Eruption of the Laacher See volcano redated
Revised date of the Laacher See eruption 13,077 years ago provides crucial information about historical climate fluctuations at the end of the last Ice Age
Natural hazards threaten 57% of US structures
Rising temperatures and risky development contribute to heightened exposure to earthquakes, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfire
EU provides 15 million euros of funding for Arctic project
The European Union will provide 15 million euros from the Horizon 2020 Programme to fund the Arctic PASSION project for the period 2021 to 2025. Under the leadership of the Alfred Wegener Institute, a consortium of 35 partners will promote…
Most rivers run dry — now and then
Over half of the world’s rivers cease to flow for at least one day a year on average
Atmospheric research: The CAIRT satellite concept selected as a candidate for ‘Earth Explorer 11’
ESA has selected four candidates for a new Earth observation satellite — KIT’s proposal focuses on changes in the Earth’s atmosphere
Research suggests ways to tackle water security challenges in world’s drylands
The research – published ahead of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on 17 June 2021 – examines recent and projected climate change impacts on water security across the world’s drylands up to the year 2100. It concludes that…
Heat from below: How the ocean is wearing down the Arctic sea ice
The influx of warmer water masses from the North Atlantic into the European marginal seas plays a significant role in the marked decrease in sea-ice growth, especially in winter. Sea-ice physicists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar…
Climate conditions during the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa reconstructed
An international research team led by Professor Dr Frank Schäbitz has published a climate reconstruction of the last 200,000 years for Ethiopia. This means that high-resolution data are now available for the period when early Homo sapiens , our ancestors,…