Just as one generation gives way to the next, global challenges are superseded by a new cohort. The once-in-a-century COVID-19 pandemic – and the risk that other dangerous new viruses may emerge at any time – is far from the only example. Extreme weather events resulting from climate change are having catastrophic consequences. Information technology and data are sometimes used maliciously or for cyberwarfare.
Climate talks in Bonn headed into their final day with rich nations accused of betraying the developing world.Poorer countries say that a promise they would be compensated for the damage done by richer countries' emissions would be honoured this year.They believed that new money to pay for the impacts of climate change that they can't adapt to would be set up.But in the discussions in Bonn, they say the issue has been side-lined by the United States (US) and Europe.For many particip
United States (US) President Joe Biden faced open criticism Thursday at an Americas summit, along with complaints about foreign pressure by Brazil's far-right leader, as he sought progress on issues from migration to climate change.Biden is welcoming leaders from across the hemisphere in Los Angeles in a choreographed bid to show that democracy can work, amid rapid inroads by China in a region long seen by Washington as its turf.But just after Biden made his pitch at the Summit of the Am
Nuclear power has been in decline since the Fukushima disaster in Japan more than a decade ago, but it may be poised for a comeback. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and soaring natural-gas prices have led some to argue that nuclear energy can help solve the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. Is the industry back in business, or will this prove to be another false dawn? Until recently, nuclear power’s prospects seemed poor.
Although nearly all heat-related deaths are preventable, heatwaves kill thousands of people worldwide every year. At this very moment, an extreme heatwave in India and Pakistan, affecting about one billion people, is “testing the limits of human survivability,” warns Chandni Singh, a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report.
Our planet is facing a triple crisis of climate, nature, and pollution, with one common cause: the fossil-fuel economy. Oil, gas, and coal are at the root of runaway climate disruption, widespread biodiversity loss, and pervasive plastic pollution. The conclusion is clear and must be paramount when political leaders gather in Stockholm this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment.
In the past three weeks there have been nearly 100 cases and 18 human deaths from a rare tick-borne disease in Iraq; a fourth case of the Ebola virus and more than 100 cases of bubonic plague have been found in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and just two years after Africa was declared free of wild polio, new cases have turned up in Malawi and Mozambique. A dangerous strain of typhus is circulating in Nepal, India and China.
Humanity has to come to terms with the frightening prospect of irreversible global warming. No corner of the world is safe anymore as nations across the globe are already reeling from the impacts of the climate crisis. Humankind and all living things on the planet are now in immediate danger as temperatures continue to rise, and flooding and forest fires become more rampant.
As southern Australia continues to recover from the destruction of the 2019-2020 ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, towns in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) have just experienced devastating floods.Some towns have even seen ‘once in 100-year’ floods occur twice in several weeks. In Lismore, an NSW town of nearly 30,000 people, the river rose more than 14 metres in late February, breaching the town’s levees and inundating people’s homes and businesses.
In a windowless conference room in Canary Wharf, dozens of mining executives, bankers and government officials are being promised unique insights into how to profit from “the deep-sea gold rush”.The hoped-for gold rush lies thousands of miles away on the bed of the Pacific Ocean, where trillions of potato-sized nodules of rare earth elements vital to power the next generation of electric cars have been discovered 4,000 metres below the surface.Mining companies are hoping that global rules to
The casualties in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine extend well beyond the Ukrainians whom Russian forces are directly targeting.
Food prices are surging to record highs in many countries, driven by factors including climate change, violent conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply-chain disruptions.
