The West Coast housing market is metaphorically on fire — with rotting shacks selling for millions. Decades of policies to restrict housing in desirable neighborhoods has pushed prices up — and it has also pushed houses out into more rural, forested areas. As a result, West Coast housing is periodically on fire in the literal […]
Tag: cities
Asia is home to 99 of world’s 100 most vulnerable cities
Indonesia’s capital Jakarta – plagued by pollution, flooding and heatwaves – tops risk assessment ranking Of the 100 cities worldwide most vulnerable to environmental hazards all but one are in Asia, and 80% are in India or China, according to a risk assessment. More than 400 large cities with a total population of 1.5 billion […]
One in four cities cannot afford climate crisis protection measures – study
Survey of 800 cities around world finds almost 43% do not even have plan to adapt to impacts of global heating One in four cities around the world lack the money to protect themselves against the ravages of climate breakdown, even though more than 90% are facing serious risks, according to research. Cities are facing […]
Why electric cars are cheaper if you’re rich
Electric vehicles are getting a lot of press lately — but can people actually afford them? Reporter Shannon Osaka has the details on fuel savings, the perils of charging, and that pesky EV tax credit (which mostly helps people who have a lot of money already). Read Next Biden wants to build 500,000 EV charging […]
There’s federal money available to house the homeless. No one’s taking it.
Two weeks after the United States began its first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, then-President Donald Trump instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to reimburse cities, counties, and tribes for 75 percent of costs related to housing homeless people in unoccupied hotels, as well as administering COVID-19 tests to those without housing. When […]
This new bill wants to bring the Green New Deal to a city near you
As Congress considers the Biden administration’s $2 trillion climate and infrastructure proposal, progressive lawmakers are beginning to signal their vision of what it would take to, in the president’s words, “build back better.” On Monday, Democratic Representatives Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Green New Deal for Cities Act of 2021, which would distribute […]
‘Bangladesh has come a long way’: people of Dhaka on half a century of independence
A rickshaw rider, a domestic worker, a student and a photographer on how their lives have changed The making of a megacity: how Dhaka transformed in 50 years of Bangladesh Habibur Rahman, 48, rickshaw rider Related: The making of a megacity: how Dhaka transformed in 50 years of Bangladesh Continue reading…
Climate crisis will cause falling humidity in global cities – study
Research says planting trees in urban areas could mitigate rising temperatures Urban regions around the world are likely to see a near-universal decrease in humidity as the climate changes, a study has found. The research suggests that building green infrastructure and increasing urban vegetation might be a safe bet for cities looking to mitigate against […]
A Massachusetts city will post climate change warning stickers at gas stations
This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first U.S. city to mandate the placing of stickers on fuel pumps to warn drivers of the resulting dangers posed by the climate crisis. The final design of the bright yellow […]
In a cross-state aquifer spat, a view of a water-stressed future
This story was originally published by Undark and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Just ahead of the Great Recession, in 2005, Carolyn Chism Hardy got the news that the Coors brewery where she worked would close for good the next year. Following a merger with Molson, her higher-ups told her, the […]