No landward movement: examining 80 years of population migration and shoreline change in Louisiana
AbstractLouisiana lost nearly 5,000 km2 of its coastal land area due to relative sea level rise (including local, regional, and global factors driving relative sea level change) since 1932, mirroring both the hazards associated with sea level rise and the time horizons of sea level rise impacts expected this century. This represents an opportunity to examine the relationship between long-term population changes and shoreline change. Based on detailed land change data for the period 1932 –2010 and a small area population estimation technique for the period 1940–2010, we examine intra-parish population changes in relatio...
Source: Population and Environment - March 5, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Correction to: Assessing recall bias and measurement error in high-frequency social data collection for human-environment research
The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The name of “Md. Ehsanul Haque Tamal” is now corrected in the author group of this article. The original article has been corrected. (Source: Population and Environment)
Source: Population and Environment - February 28, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Ambient air pollution and children ’s cognitive outcomes
This study uses rich longitudinal data on a national sample of children in the U.S. to examine the relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution and children ’s cognitive outcomes. Our results suggest that annual and cumulative measures of air pollution during third grade were significantly associated with lower math test scores. These associations may not be due to short-term effects, but may be partially explained by increased school absences through out the year. Examining child characteristics provide further insight into the role of exposure differences, biological differences, and vulnerability to effects....
Source: Population and Environment - February 19, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Assessing recall bias and measurement error in high-frequency social data collection for human-environment research
We present results from, to ou r knowledge, the first systematic evaluation of recall bias in components of a household survey, using the Open Data Kit (ODK) platform on Android smartphones. We tasked approximately 500 farmers in rural Bangladesh with responding regularly to components of a large household survey, randomizing the frequency of each task to be received weekly, monthly, or seasonally. We find respondents’ recall of consumption and experience (such as sick days) to suffer much more greatly than their recall of the use of their households’ time for labor and farm activities. Further, we demonstrate a feasib...
Source: Population and Environment - February 7, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
The nexus between extreme weather events, sexual violence, and early marriage: a study of vulnerable populations in Bangladesh
This study aims to explore whether a relationship exists between extreme weather events, sexual violence, and early marriage. We selected two districts in Bangladesh that are vulnerable to extreme weather events: Sunamganj, which experiences flash flooding, and Brahmanbaria, which experiences cyclones and related floods. Survey data was collected from 120 randomly selected household heads from two villages in these districts, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 household heads who indicated early marriage was a coping strategy for managing effects of weather events. The mixed-methods study finds that early marri...
Source: Population and Environment - January 30, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Population, immigration, and air quality in the USA: a spatial panel study
AbstractThe role of population size in environmental degradation is a source of both political and academic debate, with the role of immigrant population being particularly salient in developed countries such as the USA. We test the relationship between two population specifications and air quality in the US context, using spatial panel analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency ’s Air Quality Index, population, and other explanatory variables for contiguous US counties from 2007 to 2014. We find that both population in general and immigrant population in particular are associated with better, rather than worse air ...
Source: Population and Environment - January 8, 2019 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
The burden of carcinogenic air toxics among Asian Americans in four US metro areas
This study investigated disparities in residential exposure to carcinogenic air pollutants among Asian Americans, including Asian ancestry subgroups, in four US metro areas with high proportions of Asians, i.e., Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle. Generalized estimating equations adjusting for socioeconomic status, population density, and clustering show that a greater proportion of Asian Americans in census tracts was associated with significantly greater health risk in all four metro areas. Intracategorical disparities were uncovered for Asian ancestry. A greater proportion Korean was positively a...
Source: Population and Environment - December 3, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Family planning and resilience: associations found in a Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) project in Western Tanzania
This study supports the importance of including FP/ MCH as part of integrated projects to enhance resilience. (Source: Population and Environment)
Source: Population and Environment - November 29, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Human mobility and environmental change: a survey of perceptions and policy direction
AbstractResearch concerning human mobility in the context of environmental change is primarily focused on analyses of the nexus itself. We have taken a less-travelled route, focusing on those who take an interest in the issue, engage with it professionally or seek to address the multitude of social, economic and political dimensions associated with it. We used an online survey to examine perceptions of the human mobility/environmental change nexus amongst those who work with or within it (n = 262 respondents), situating our findings within the policy development they often seek or help to propel. We outline respondents...
Source: Population and Environment - November 23, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Will boys ’ mental health fare worse under a hotter climate in Australia?
AbstractA hotter climate is increasingly found to have negative effects on human health, yet the possible impact on children ’s mental health is less understood. Our study explored this potential relationship using a national survey of children aged 6–11 across Australia, during the period 2008–2014 (n = 14,096). It was hypothesised that the negative effects of hotter weather on children’s mental health can occur both directly (e.g. through heat impacts influencing hyperactivity and restlessness) and indirectly (e.g. through reduced participation in organised physical activities). Mediation analysis controlled ...
Source: Population and Environment - November 21, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Determinants of out-migration in rural China: effects of payments for ecosystem services
This study seeks to understand the impacts on this migration of two large payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs implemented by the Chinese Government: the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP). The primary goal of these PES programs is environmental conservation with poverty alleviation as the secondary goal. We use a full model of the factors affecting rural out-migration at the individual, household, and community levels to investigate how these PES programs have influenced out-migration in a mountainous rural area of Anhui, China. Results show that the ...
Source: Population and Environment - November 10, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Migration-related land use dynamics in increasingly hybrid peri-urban space: insights from two agricultural communities in Bolivia
This study shows weak migration-induced changes in agriculture and concludes that transnational migration does not necessarily accelerate an ongoing urbanization process. It shows that remittances function to maintain farming for subsistence and as a secondary livelihood activity. However, major investments in agricultural intensification are not attractive due to the communities ’ proximity to the main cities. This article highlights the need for nuanced conceptualization when studying migration-driven agricultural change in hybrid peri-urban spaces. (Source: Population and Environment)
Source: Population and Environment - October 29, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Disasters, local organizations, and poverty in the USA, 1998 to 2015
AbstractDisaster research has drawn attention to how natural hazards transform local organizational dynamics and social inequalities. It has yet to examine how these processes unfold together over time. We begin to fill this gap with a county-level, longitudinal analysis that examines how property damages from natural hazards correlate not only with local shifts in poverty a year later but also counts of for-profit as well as bonding and bridging social capital organizations. Results show that poverty and all organizational types tend to increase with local hazard damages. They also show that poverty tends to increase most...
Source: Population and Environment - October 29, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Neighborhood and social environmental influences on child chronic disease prevalence
AbstractWe investigate how distinct residential environments uniquely influence chronic child disease prevalence. Aggregating over 200,000 pediatric geocoded medical records to the census tract of residence and linking them to neighborhood-level measures, we use multiple data analysis techniques to assess how heterogeneous exposures of social and environmental neighborhood conditions influence an index of child chronic disease (CCD) prevalence for the neighborhood. We find there is a graded relationship between degree of overall neighborhood disadvantage and children ’s chronic disease such that the highest neighborhood ...
Source: Population and Environment - September 13, 2018 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
