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Saturday, May 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Biodiversity at the Cliff’s Edge
What nature gives us is often taken for granted, but if its basic elements disappear, human life on Earth would not be possible. The mission of the biodiversity summit under way in Nagoya is to reverse the headlong rush towards the precipice.Ending Africa’s Hunger Means Listening to Farmers
Africa is hungry - 240 million people are undernourished. Now, for the first-time, small African farmers have been properly consulted on how to solve the problem of feeding sub-Saharan Africa. Their answers appear to directly repudiate a massive international effort to launch an African Green Revolution funded in large part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Yin and Yang of Climate Extremes
The floods that affected 20 million people in Pakistan and the devastating six- week heat wave in Russia in recent months are tragic climate events -- and they're closely linked.Canada Sees Climate Change “Prosperity” Instead of Calamity
The first comprehensive look at the expected impacts of climate change on Canada offers an embarrassing and misleading "don't worry, be happy" vision, citing more golf days and better access to northern deposits of oil and gas courtesy of global warming, critics say.Engineering a Water Crisis in Rivers
Failure to protect and invest in nature has left the world’s rivers in crisis, threatening the water supply of more than five billion people according to a new study. Pollution, dam building, agricultural runoff, conversion of wetlands, and water-works engineering have severely impacting global river systems, the first- ever health assessment of the planet’s riverine ecosystems reported in Nature last week.
Arctic Ice in Death Spiral
The carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have melted the Arctic sea ice to its lowest volume since before the rise of human civilisation, dangerously upsetting the energy balance of the entire planet, climate scientists are reporting.
Record Temperatures Killing Caribbean Corals
The waters of the Caribbean Sea are the warmest on record and the region's imperilled corals are bleaching and beginning to die, experts warn.
Locally-Run Protected Areas Could Reverse Fisheries’ Death Spiral
Local fishers objected to the creation of a new no-fishing marine protected area off the coast of Belize in 1996. Today they are benefiting from the bounty of fish spilling out of the Laughing Bird Caye National Park. Tourism has also boomed, illustrating the multiple benefits and value of marine protected areas, according to a new series of reports released Wednesday by Conservation International (CI).Local Decisions Have Big Impact on Ecosystems
What do New York City, Vienna, Quito and Rio de Janeiro have in common? They all get their high quality drinking water through aqueducts connected to protected areas in nearby hills and mountains.
BIODIVERSITY: An Ocean of Crustaceans
What lives in the world's oceans? Crabs mostly, according to the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year research effort.
Russia’s Agony a “Wake-Up Call” to the World
A wind turbine on an acre of northern Iowa farmland could generate 300,000 dollars worth of greenhouse-gas-free electricity a year. Instead, the U.S. government pays out billions of dollars to subsidise grain for ethanol fuel that has little if any impact on global warming, according to Lester Brown.
An Ocean of Crustaceans
Fish represent just 12 percent of all ocean species, according to the Census of Marine Life, to be published in October.Ocean Losing Its Green
The oceans are the lifeblood of our planet and plankton its red blood cells. Those vital "red blood cells" have declined more than 40 percent since 1950 and the rate of decline is increasing due to climate change, scientists reported this week.Former Presidents Denounce Drug War Ahead of AIDS Meet
The failed "war on drugs" has not only badly damaged countries where it is waged, it is responsible for driving up HIV infection rates in some countries, says an official declaration endorsed Wednesday by three former Latin American presidents in advance of the XVIII International AIDS Conference that begins Jul. 18 in Vienna.Free Ride for Oil and Coal Industry May Be Over
Every day, governments give away an estimated two billion dollars of taxpayer money to the fossil fuel industry. This unmatched largesse to a highly profitable sector by countries verging on bankruptcy or unable to feed large numbers of their own people is "complete madness", according to many experts.Activists Slam G8’s Aid Shell Game
The G8 bloc of wealthy nations promised five billion dollars Saturday for health and nutrition programmes that benefit women and children in developing countries.Polar Heat Bringing Harder Winters
Last winter's big snowfall and cold temperatures in the eastern United States and Europe were likely caused by the loss of Arctic sea ice, researchers concluded at the International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference in Norway last week.Europe’s Green Energy Portfolio Up in Smoke?
Europe seems hell-bent on burning the world's forests for bioenergy, even as it offers billions of euros to save them, critics say.Money Begets Environmental Evils, Study Finds
Rising global wealth spells disaster for the planet, with environmental impacts growing roughly 80 percent with a doubling of income, reports the first comprehensive study of consumption.
ENVIRONMENT: Market-Based Conservation Brewing in Nairobi
The private sector could mobilise billions of dollars to halt the loss of biodiversity, just as it does through the Clean Development Mechanism for mitigating climate change. But the proposal presented at a recent forum in the Kenyan capital has sparked debate among environmentalists.North-South Conservation Divide: “Show Me the Money”
Developing countries rich in plants and animals but poor in financial and technical resources refused to make binding commitments to halt the unraveling of the planet's biological infrastructure at the close of a major meeting Friday at the U.N.'s African headquarters in Nairobi.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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