In The News

Warning: Extreme Weather Ahead

John Vidal June 15, 2011
“Everyone complains about the weather and no one does anything about it” – Mark Twain’s observation also applies to climate change. The entire globe is experiencing a “climate rollercoaster” of extreme weather with record-setting droughts, flooding, winds, temperatures, wildfires and snow, writes John Vidal for the Guardian. He adds, “The impacts of extreme weather are greater in poorer countries...

Activism Gets Rolling in Taiwan

Ralph Jennings June 8, 2011
The deepest respect for a society often comes from those who criticize and take corrective action. Writing for the New York Times, Ralph Jennings tells the story about a US-born lawyer who moved to Taiwan in 1977, becoming a citizen 26 years later to fight for environmental causes. In 2003, Robin Winkler started a foundation to handle pro bono cases on environmental issues. Investment in...

Costa Rica’s Pineapple Boom Unhealthy, Warn Experts

Will Ferguson June 7, 2011
Costa Rica is one of the world's top five pineapple-producing nations. With growing demand for the healthy fruit, farmers expand their fields. Concern is emerging among growers in Costa Rica as “the industry has been associated with the deterioration and erosion of soils, the destruction of ecosystems and the contamination of water supplies,” writes Will Ferguson for the Tico Times. Farmers...

Bound to Fail

Bo Ekman May 31, 2011
No nation can successfully block out the physical or intangible cross-border challenges imposed by others. Immigrants, disease, radiation, trade in natural resources or radical ideas like democracy leap and bound across borders. With global interconnectedness in so many areas, governance at the national level has become but a quaint endeavor. Any political, economic, military or spiritual system...

Worst Ever Carbon Emissions Leave Climate on the Brink

Fiona Harvey May 31, 2011
Record levels of greenhouse-gas emissions for 2010, as estimated by the International Energy Agency, could dash hopes of controlling climate change, reports Fiona Harvey for the Guardian. The IEA also notes that global recession did little to dent reliance on fossil fuels. Governments, by allowing emissions to rise, cannot hope to prevent average global temperature rising by more than 2 degrees...

Nation of the Forest

Cathy Shufro May 30, 2011
Urbanization’s many pressures make it easier for people to alter long-held customs. For example, in Bhutan, city dwellers didn’t protest a rule aimed at protecting forests by reducing the number of prayer flags to mourn a loved one’s death, explains Cathy Shufro in an article for Yale Alumni Magazine. “Bhutanese have formulated guidelines, infused with Buddhist values, for how to reconcile old...

Coral Reefs Twice Size of Manila Destroyed

Philip C. Tubeza May 26, 2011
Black-coral colonies are thousands of small animals that grow slowly over centuries, in subtropical and tropical waters, at a rate of about one centimeter per month. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora bans the harvesting of Antipatharia, which has 245 species in seven families. But coral taxonomy is lacking in detail. Confusion emerges with...