In The News

The globe is more urban than ever with more than 65 percent of all people living in cities compared with 2 percent in 1800. Urbanization, the bulk of it near coasts, is a global megatrend challenging world leaders and planners along with climate change and population growth. The patterns expose vulnerabilities and encourage inequality: “The unprecedented pace and scale of urban growth will strain...

Scientists preparing the much-awaited report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are in a quandary over data that go against the body’s broad conclusions on carbon emissions and a warming planet. In an exclusive report based on leaked documents the Associated Press says that scientists are puzzled by data suggesting that “global warming has slowed in the past 15 years even though...

The United Nations monitors global weather conditions, population growth, security and refugee populations, and the trends are interconnected in many complex ways. In Syria, severe drought between 2006 and 2010 turned more than half the land into desert, contributing to a vicious civil war: Drought and water shortages led to unemployment, forcing hundreds of thousands into Syria’s cities – many...