Environment

The Sickest Places in the World

By Stephen Leahy
Parts of Indonesia, Argentina and Nigeria are among the top 10 most polluted places on the planet, according to a new report by U.S. and European environmental groups.

South America – From Granary to Megaprojects for the World

By Fabiana Frayssinet
South America has gone from the world’s granary to the site of innumerable international infrastructure, energy and mining megaprojects. It is now facing a new dilemma: bolstering the economy with the promise of reducing inequality, in exchange for social and environmental costs that are taking their toll.

Jordan’s Farmers Struggle to Weather Climate Change

By Elizabeth Whitman
Abu Waleed isn't quite sure where to begin his litany of grievances. Bugs that chomp their way through the mint he grows, or the dry well that forces him to pump water from a half kilometre away? Or perhaps the 160 dinars he spent on spinach seeds only to see scant growth after planting.

Nuclear Called a Lesser Evil than Fossil Fuels

By Carey L. Biron
Four prominent climate and energy scientists are calling on environmentalists to rethink their longstanding opposition to nuclear energy, warning that there is no “credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power”.

A ‘Green Intifadah’ Takes Root

By Pierre Klochendler
“O green Battir, mother of the air,” Mariam Ma’mmar sings in praise of her village. As the hot season draws to a close, the land – her people’s strength – dries up. Not here in her Battir, where a peaceful form of resistance against the Israeli occupation is taking root.

South of the Border, Mining Is King

By Carey L. Biron
Civil society groups from throughout Latin America are urging “home countries” to take greater responsibility for the actions of their companies abroad, particularly those in the extractives industry.

In Haiti, Cholera Claims New Victims Daily

By Thalif Deen and Patrick Saint-Pre
Some 2,400 kilometres from New York City, where victims of Haiti's cholera epidemic are suing the United Nations in a U.S. federal court, the disease continues to burn through the populace with no end in sight.

Waiting for the Next Superstorm

By Samuel Oakford
One year ago, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Northeast United States, causing an estimated 68 billion dollars in damage and paralysing the world’s financial nerve centre.

Lack of Funds Hampering Nigeria’s Fight Against Climate Change

By Sam Olukoya
Nigeria experienced its worst flooding which left a trail of destruction in 2012. Meteorologists are forecasting more flooding this year but, beyond warning those who face flooding, the government has not done much to move them as it lacks the money to relocate them.

Ecuador-Colombia Settlement Won’t End Spraying

By Ángela Meléndez
The secrecy surrounding a friendly settlement in a case that Ecuador brought against Colombia in the International Court of Justice for damage caused by anti-drug spraying along the border has further angered those affected by the fumigation.

Zimbabwe’s Battered Old Cars Worsening Air Pollution

By Jeffrey Moyo
It is a common sight in Zimbabwe’s rural areas – dilapidated old cars making their way from one district to the next overloaded with chickens, maize, luggage and people.

Caribbean Looks to the Sky for Water Security

By Jewel Fraser
A centuries-old system for ensuring water security is making a comeback in the Caribbean.

Mangroves Help Guyana Defend Against Changing Climate

By Desmond Brown
Theola Fortune can recall how residents of Victoria would ridicule her and others every time they went into the east coast village to warn residents about the importance of mangroves and the need to protect them.

Major New Andes Tunnel Turns Back on Volcano

By Constanza Vieira
A new system of tunnels at the Alto de La Línea mountain pass in Colombia’s central Cordillera mountain range will open up a key logistics route for this country and neighbouring Venezuela. But it could be overcome by disaster if the Machín volcano erupts.

Bangladesh Ailing After Aila

By Robert Stefanicki
It has been four years since Cyclone Aila struck Bangladesh, triggering floods and widespread destruction. But the villagers of Koira subdistrict, among the worst affected of the 11 districts hit by the cyclone, are yet to recover from its impact.

Power Struggle Rises Over Tanzania’s Pangani River

By Kizito Makoye
As farmers and herders fight over dwindling water levels in the Pangani River Basin in northeastern Tanzania, a new dispute is emerging between farmers and the state-run power utility firm over this precious resource.

Mongolia’s Wild Asses Cornered From All Sides

By Michelle Tolson
Decades of international and local collaboration have brought the Tahki or Asian Wild Horse back from the brink of extinction and reintroduced herds to Mongolia’s Gobi desert and grasslands. However, the country’s other wild equine - the Mongolian Wild Ass or Khulan - is fast disappearing.

Private Initiative Finds Garbage Profitable in Cuba

By Patricia Grogg
As self-employment and cooperatives expand in socialist Cuba, they are making incursions into new areas, such as waste picking and recycling – for many a means of subsistence, but for others, a gold mine.

Plantations Winnow Tigers Down to the Hundreds

By Thalif Deen
The tiger population in the rainforests of Sumatra is vanishing at a staggering rate, reducing the number of the endangered species to as few as 400, warns Greenpeace International.

Cuba’s Mangroves Dying of Thirst

By Ivet González
In the 1960s, the Cuban government declared that storage of fresh water for times of drought or hurricanes was a matter of national security, and it began to dam up the country’s rivers. But that policy has claimed an unforeseen victim: mangroves.

Tanzania’s Coastal Communities Forced to Drink Seawater

By Kizito Makoye
The freshwater drinking supply of the coastal town of Pangani in northeast Tanzania is becoming increasingly contaminated as salt water steadily seeps in from the Indian Ocean.
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