ABSTRACT
Studies on the relationship between temperature and local, small scale mobility are limited, and sensitive to the region and time period of interest. We contribute to the growing mobility literature through a detailed characterization of the observed temperature-mobility relationship in the San Francisco Bay Area at fine spatial and temporal scale across two summers (2020-2021). We used anonymized cellphone data from SafeGraph's neighborhood patterns data set and gridded temperature data from gridMET, and analyzed the influence of incremental changes in temperature on mobility rate (i.e., visits per capita) using a panel regression with fixed effects. This strategy enabled us to control for spatial and temporal variability across the studied region. Our analysis suggested that all areas exhibited lower mobility rate in response to higher summer temperatures. We then explored how several additional variables altered these results. Extremely hot days resulted in faster mobility declines with increasing temperatures. Weekdays were often more resistant to temperature changes when compared to the weekend. In addition, the rate of decrease in mobility in response to high temperature was significantly greater among the wealthiest census block groups compared with the least wealthy. Further, the least mobile locations experienced significant differences in mobility response compared to the rest of the data set. Given the fundamental differences in the mobility response to temperature across most of our additive variables, our results are relevant for future mobility studies in the region.
ABSTRACT
This review examines observed and hypothesized environmental impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Impacts are considered along two axes: timescale (from initial widespread sheltering, to a future after the economic recovery) and causal link (from direct impacts of protective measures, to cascading impacts of policy choices and market and behavioral responses). The available literature documents both positive and negative environmental consequences. These include many early reports of positive impacts (such as clearer skies and wildlife returning to vacated areas). However, it has become clear both that those benefits were largely temporary and that the prolonged health and economic disruptions pose acute risks to many terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Furthermore, this review was completed just as the Omicron variant emerged. Given the pandemic's persistence, the long timescales of cascading impacts, and the inherent lags in research and publication, this review provides an early view of what will eventually be known about the environmental impacts of the pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR]