urbanization

11 Stories

Urban Lizards Show 'Evolution as It's Unfolding'
Urban Lizards
Show 'Evolution
as It's Unfolding'
NEW STUDY
Jan 15, 2023 2:10 PM CST

Urban Lizards Show 'Evolution as It's Unfolding'

'Anolis cristatellus' evolved to cling to windows and walls over 30 to 80 generations: study

(Newser) - Lizards that once dwelled in forests but now slink around urban areas have genetically morphed to survive life in the city, researchers have found, per the AP . The Puerto Rican crested anole, a brown lizard with a bright orange throat fan, has sprouted special scales to better cling to smooth...

Another Cicada Problem: Suburban Development

Cutting down trees takes away the developing insects' food source

(Newser) - Are you wondering where all the cicadas are? You might want to sit down. Billions of Brood X bugs, burrowed in the ground since 2004, are starting to emerge on the East Coast. But in some areas, they’re pretty sparse. Blame urbanization. Cicadas live underground for years, usually 17...

How China Will Move 250M From Country to City in 12 Years

Will mass urbanization create growth or just destroy rural life?

(Newser) - In the 1980s, 20% of people in China lived in the city. Today, it's 53%. By 2025, the country's leaders wants 70% of the population to be city-dwellers—about 900 million people. How do you do that? Bulldoze the villages and build new cities from scratch, reports the...

Privacy, We Hardly Knew Ye
 Privacy, We 
 Hardly Knew Ye 
OPINION
Mar 18, 2013 1:10 PM CDT

Privacy, We Hardly Knew Ye

Facebook is reverting us to a pre-urban state: David Frum

(Newser) - Between Facebook and cell phone videos that propel any unguarded moment into a viral one, we spend a fair amount of time these days bemoaning the loss of privacy. But the truth is, privacy has only existed for a matter of decades, writes David Frum at CNN . "For most...

China Plans Megacity of 42M People

Would be 53 times larger than New York City

(Newser) - While the West struggles with its biggest economic downturn in 70 years, China continues to surge: Now comes plans to spend $303 billion to create a 42-million-person megacity in the southeast, reports the Telegraph . The new megacity would merge nine cities around the Pearl River Delta, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen,...

Megacities Stagger India
 Megacities Stagger India 
May 13, 2009 8:02 AM CDT

Megacities Stagger India

Out-of-control urbanization threatens to drag down Indian economy for years

(Newser) - The explosive growth of India's cities is threatening to drag down the country's economy for decades to come, economists tell the Wall Street Journal. The global trend toward urbanization has gone into overdrive in India, but most cities aren't prepared to deal with the influx of migrants from the countryside,...

Single City Dwellers Are Often Happier, Healthier

Social scientists say New Yorkers defy that lonely stereotype

(Newser) - Our stereotype of the single, lonely urban dweller is all wrong. City folk who live alone often lead happier, healthier lives than married couples do in suburbia, Jennifer Senior writes in New York. “There was a time when living alone meant you were a hopeless shut-in," writes...

Middle Class America Moves Downtown

Shift could spark suburban slums, experts fear

(Newser) - Middle class Americans are moving back downtown, pushing out minority groups and reversing the 20th century trend of "white flight," Alan Ehrenhalt writes in the New Republic. Why the shift? Downtown areas are safer, industries have moved out, and rising fuel prices make suburban commutes less attractive. "...

Light Pollution Veils Starry Skies

Obscured night sky could be a health hazard

(Newser) - Dark skies are being engulfed by light all over the world, creating some unexpected consequences, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over two-thirds of the world's people— including nearly all Americans—can no longer see "what is possibly the most extraordinary natural wonder," said one astronomer. The amount of...

India, China Growth Breaks Western Mold
India, China Growth Breaks Western Mold
OPINION
Feb 3, 2008 7:33 AM CST

India, China Growth Breaks Western Mold

Essayist says market reforms are only part of the big picture

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom chalks up the economic booms in China and India to their moves toward global capitalism in the '90s. It's a comforting thought for the West, writes Pranab Bardhan in the Boston Review, but the truth is far more complex. The astounding growth in both countries started well before...

Record Heat Fries Phoenix
Record Heat Fries Phoenix
Aug 30, 2007 3:44 PM CDT

Record Heat Fries Phoenix

Nearly a month’s worth of temps topping 110

(Newser) - Phoenix citizens can’t blunt this hot spell with claims of “dry heat”: The city’s just marked its 29th day in a year of 110-degree temperatures. Urbanization and global warming are likely factors in the chart-topping season, though Phoenicians have been spared a highest-ever figure, the AP reports—...

11 Stories