Environment

Biofuels Converting U.S. Prairielands at Dust Bowl Rates

By Joe Hitchon
The rush for biofuels in the United States has seen farmers converting the United States' prairie lands to farms at rates comparable with deforestation levels in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia – rates not seen here since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

India Undercuts Tribal Rights

By Ed McKenna
Over a decade ago, the Dongria Kondh tribe – tucked away in the Niyamgiri hills, a mountain range in the eastern Indian state of Orissa – found itself under attack.

Carnival Food Carts Go Solar in Northern Argentina

By Marcela Valente
It’s carnival time in sunny northwest Argentina, and as usual, food vending carts are everywhere. But some of the carts are different this year: they offer food cooked on the spot – by the sun.

Agriculture on the Air

By Naimul Haq
The sun is just beginning its descent as a knot of farmers gathers around a small, portable radio in the grounds of the Nachol Pilot High School in Bangladesh’s northwestern Chapainawabganj district, about 300 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka.

In Conservatives’ Canada, It’s Not Easy Being Green

By Stephen Leahy
Canada's police and security agencies think citizens concerned about the environment are threats to national security, and some are under surveillance, documents reveal.
Equipment converting drainpipe heat to central heating for the Fürth town hall in Germany. Credit: Ricarda Hager - Courtesy Municipality of Fürth

Saving Heat from Going Down the Drain

By Julio Godoy
Whenever hot water from the kitchen tap or the bathroom shower goes down the plughole, a substantial amount of heat energy goes with it. In some German buildings this is being recovered and used to heat buildings in the winter and run air conditioning systems in the summer, representing a real energy-saver.

No-till Farming Holds the Key to Food Security

By Patricia Grogg
No-till farming is a response to climate change that fits well with the needs of the Caribbean: it increases the ability to capture water, while withstanding both drought and excessive rains, says expert Theodor Friedrich, representative of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Cuba.

Erratic Weather Looms Above while Injustice Boils Below

By George Gao
The “Spirit of America” is one of 10 ferries that carry passengers from Manhattan to Staten Island. Its keel – which lies on the bottom of the boat and carves through the waters of New York Harbour– was built with steel from the collapsed Twin Towers.  

Climate Rally Draws “Line in the Sand” on Canadian Pipeline

By Stephen Leahy
The largest climate rally in U.S. history is expected Sunday in Washington DC with the aim of pressuring President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Climate Change Added to U.S. Government “High Risk” List

By Carey L. Biron
For the first time, a U.S. government auditor has added climate change to a list of issues that pose the greatest financial risk to the government and country. It is also warning that Washington is markedly unprepared to deal with the scope of the problem.

Brazilian Ethanol in the Slow Lane to Global Market

By Mario Osava
Following a promising start, Brazil's dream of positioning ethanol in the global market on an equal standing with petroleum-based fuels is hindered by new and old challenges.

Q&A: Venerable Sierra Club Gets Radical on Tar Sands

By George Gao
The term “civil disobedience” takes its roots from an 1849 essay by U.S. poet, philosopher and environmentalist, Henry David Thoreau, originally entitled “Resistance to Civil Government”.

Climate Change Threatens Caribbean Coral Reefs

By Peter Richards
Scientists and researchers are working together in a new initiative to collect data that will help determine the effects of climate change on coral in the Caribbean Sea.
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Sahel Region Learning to Reap the Benefits of Shade

By Joe Hitchon
In Africa's Sahel region, agroforestry techniques using traditional plantings known as "fertiliser trees" to increase soil fertility, as well as harvesting and grazing regulations, are offering new solutions to both food and human security.

Water, Water Everywhere – and No Early Warning in Sight

By Ignatius Banda
Muzeka Muyeyekwa from Mapfekera Village in Zimbabwe’s  Manicaland Province wonders what he will feed his three children for lunch.

Thawing Permafrost May Be “Huge Factor” in Global Warming

By Stephen Leahy
Thawing permafrost is emitting more climate-heating carbon faster than previously realised. Scientists have now learned that when the ancient carbon locked in the ice thaws and is exposed to sunlight, it turns into carbon dioxide 40 percent faster.

Trout Trump the Taliban

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
The rivers in northern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province were once thick with trout. Spanning hundreds of kilometres, these water bodies played host to the exotic fish, first introduced by the British in the early 1900s, which eventually became a staple in the diets and livelihoods of the province’s 20 million residents.

Energy, Economy Key in Major Obama Address

By Carey L. Biron
In a major annual address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama offered further details on a broad and ambitious range of policy priorities, taking advantage of perhaps his single most significant opportunity to guide the public conversation on his second-term agenda.
Native leaders from the Amazon at the meeting of the Congressional working group. Credit: Puinamudt

Native Peoples Say: No Consultations, No Concessions

By Milagros Salazar
Representatives of native communities in the Amazon region of Peru, where the first ever "prior consultation" about a project affecting their territory will be held, have pressured the authorities into promising that their views will be taken into account every step of the way. But the government's word is no longer enough to assuage their mistrust.

River Restoration Remains Out of Reach

By Marcela Valente
The process of cleaning up the Matanza-Riachuelo river, which runs through the Argentine capital, shows remarkable progress. But the biggest challenge is purifying the water in the basin, which has been damaged by centuries of neglect.
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U.S. Environment Agency Releases First Climate Adaptation Plan

By Carey L. Biron
For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has publicly released a draft plan on how the department’s programmes will adapt to global warming, in a move that could lay additional groundwork for important new emissions rulemaking the agency may announce in coming months.
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