Environment

Outrage Over Safety Issues at Indian Nuke Plant

By K. S. Harikrishnan
The Tirunelveli district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu may seem idyllic, dotted with lush green fields, but upon closer inspection one sees signs of a battle that does not appear to be abating.

U.S. Moving Toward Controversial New Role in Global Energy Market

By Jared Metzker
Energy specialists say that advancements in fossil fuel extraction technologies have sparked a "revolution" in U.S. energy production, especially given radical recent changes in the global energy market and the U.S. role within it.

Zimbabwean Farmers Adrift Amid Power Struggles

By Busani Bafana
For the past five years, farmer Melusi Mhlanga has spent nearly 200 dollars each season for inputs, but the maize yields have not matched his investment. 

Developing Countries Lead Global Shift to Green Energy

By Stephen Leahy
Emerging economies such as Mexico and India are shifting energy investments into renewable resources while industrialised countries hesitate, noted two new United Nations reports released Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya.

Is the 2030 Goal for Hunger Eradication Realistic?

By Thalif Deen
With less than three years before a 2015 deadline, the developing world is largely expected to miss one of the U.N.'s key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger.

Climate Change Threatens Water and Food Security in Antigua

By Desmond Brown
With their islands devoid of rivers or streams, farmers in Antigua and Barbuda have been building dams and ponds for centuries, harvesting rainwater to irrigate their crops and provide drinking water for their livestock.

“Carbon Farming” Makes Waves at Stalled Bonn Talks

By Stephen Leahy
U.N. climate talks have largely stalled with the suspension of one of three negotiating tracks at a key mid-year session in Bonn, Germany.

In Sri Lanka, the Tempest Comes Unannounced

By Amantha Perera
It was several hours before dawn when Afthas Niflal, a young fisherman in southern Sri Lanka, felt the sea start to rumble beneath him.

Zanzibar’s Encroaching Ocean Means Less Water

By Erick Kabendera
Khadija Komboani’s nearest well is filled with salt water thanks to the rising sea around Tanzania’s Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar.

U.S. Regulatory System “Stymied by Special Interests”

By Carey L. Biron
A broad-based alliance of public interest and other groups is warning that years of attacks by business interests has made the U.S. regulatory so inefficient that public safety is being put at risk.

Q&A: U.N. Looks to High Seas to Alleviate Food Crisis

By Thalif Deen
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is convinced there is sufficient global capacity to produce enough food to adequately feed the world's seven billion people.

When the Train Passes, But Never Arrives

By Constanza Vieira
José "Goyo" Hernández has never been given a mask to keep him from breathing in the coal dust blowing off the 13 trains that pass daily through this village in the municipality of Zona Bananera in the northern Colombian department of Magdalena, during his 12-hour shift at the railway crossing.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Hit Record High in 2012

By Carey L. Biron
Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide rose by 1.4 percent last year, setting a new record, according to data released Monday.

Cuba Kicks Off Cyclone Season with ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Rains

By Patricia Grogg
The new cyclone season in Cuba is forecast to be highly active, and it announced its arrival with intense rains that caused rivers to burst their banks and flooded extensive areas in the western province of Pinar del Río.

Behind the Climate Finance Headlines

By Smita Nakhooda
Developed countries report that they delivered more than 33 billion dollars in Fast Start Finance (known as FSF), beyond the pledges they made at COP 15 in Copenhagen in 2009. Recent analysis suggests that the funding delivered may have exceeded 38 billion dollars.  But that is not the whole story.

Iceland Renews Push for Aluminium Plant

By Lowana Veal
The new Icelandic government was only a day old when it announced in mid-May that it would do all it could to push ahead with the Helguvik aluminium smelter. Construction for the smelter began in in 2008 but since then has met with a variety of problems, mostly energy-related.

Making a Business Out of Water Rationing

By Jeffrey Moyo
For 61-year-old Sarah Chikwanha from water-starved Chitungwiza, a town about 25 kilometres outside Harare, Zimbabwe, there is no choice. She must buy her water from illegal water traders, whose businesses have sprung up across the country.

The Future of the Pacific Ocean Hangs in the Balance

By Catherine Wilson
The immense scale of the Pacific Ocean, at 165 million square kilometres, inspires awe and fascination, but for those who inhabit the 22 Pacific island countries and territories, it is the very source of life. Without it, livelihoods and economies would collapse, hunger and ill-health would become endemic and human survival would be threatened.

Mexican Climate Fund Short of Cash, Slow Off the Mark

By Emilio Godoy
The Climate Change Fund set up in November in Mexico faces enormous challenges such as the enforcement of anti-corruption standards, which make it unlikely that concrete actions will begin this year, according to civil society organisations.

In Southern Tunisia, Pollution No Longer Swept Under the Rug

By Justin Hyatt
The story of Gabès and the local phosphate industry follows a plot that is all too familiar: an underdeveloped town located in an industrial region boasts one major lucrative industry with high output and export values, but the local population and surroundings experience alarming levels of illness and environmental blight.

Children Help Take Care of Havana Bay

By Ivet González
On a piece of paper, Jennifer Rivas draws a beach, with little girls carrying bags of trash and signs that say “Let’s take care of the environment.” The 10-year-old is part of an educational programme, Friends of the Bay, that involves 322 schools in the Cuban capital.
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