When ride-sharing companies including Uber and Lyft begin operating in a city, there is a slight increase in car ownership on average, a study of US urban areas suggests Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264144-uber-and-lyft-operating-in-us-cities-linked-to-rises-in-car-ownership/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: Urban Areas
San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up To 31%, Most in US
San Francisco’s sky-high apartment rents are falling fast. From a report: The median monthly rate for a studio in the city tumbled 31% in September from a year earlier to $2,285, compared with a 0.5% decline nationally, according to data released Tuesday by Realtor.com. One-bedroom rents in San Francisco fell 24% and two-bedrooms were down 21%, to $2,873 and $3,931 a…
Children Raised In Greener Areas Have Higher IQ, Study Finds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Growing up in a greener urban environment boosts children’s intelligence and lowers levels of difficult behavior, a study has found. The analysis of more than 600 children aged 10-15 showed a 3% increase in the greenness of their neighborhood raised their IQ score by an average of 2.6 points. The effect was…
Japan Acted Like the Virus Had Gone. Now It’s Spread Everywhere.
After initial success, Japan is facing a reality check on the coronavirus. From a report: The country garnered global attention after containing the first wave of Covid-19 with what it referred to as the “Japan Model” — limited testing and no lockdown, nor any legal means to force businesses to close. The country’s finance minister even suggested a higher “cultural standard”…
Gulf of Mexico dead zone: Summer 2020 forecast
NOAA scientists forecast that this summer’s dead zone would measure roughly 6,700 square miles – bigger than the long-term average recorded since 1985, but lower than 2017’s record-high extent. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/gulf-mexico-dead-zone-summer-2020-forecast…
Human-linked Earth vibrations dropped 50% during Covid-19 lockdown
Between March and May 2020, many people across Earth went into lockdown. During those months, seismographs recorded a drop in human-linked vibrations in the solid Earth, by an average of 50%. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/covid19-lockdown-2020-caused-50-percent-global-reduction-human-linked-earth-vibrations…
Why Expanding Highways Makes Traffic Worse
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Americans drove 40 percent more miles in 2019 than they did in 1994, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. More driving means more congested traffic. So to reduce congestion, it makes sense to build more highway lanes so that more cars can fit. Right? Actually, no. A new report from the policy…
Is That a Rooster on My Customer-Support Call? Yes, Blame Coronavirus.
When Robin Frost called Verizon’s customer support last month, she was connected with a rooster. At least that’s what it sounded like. The Pennsylvania resident wanted to ask about a problem with the telecom company’s app, but the agent on the line said she couldn’t hear. Punctuating her words was “the sound of a very authentic, real-sounding rooster,” Ms. Frost recalled….
2 views from space: San Francisco Bay
We thought many of you would enjoy these two images from space of one of Earth’s most captivating places: San Francisco Bay. The European Space Agency (ESA) shared the image above on May 15, 2020. It’s a view of San Francisco Bay from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, which consists of twin Earth-observing satellites, launched in…read more » Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/esa-satellite-image-san-francisco-bay…
Satellite images: Air pollution in India plummets
These satellite images show how much aerosol levels have dropped over northern India since the Covid-19 lockdown began. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/satellite-images-air-pollution-india-covid19…