ViewsWeek Views from around the world
Seven of Canada’s most prized scientific libraries are being shut down and some of their contents have already been burned, thrown away or carted off by fossil fuel consultancy firms. This development is part of a Harper administration plan to slash more than $160 million in the coming years from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO — an agency charged …
January, 2014
-
21 January
Perils of Climate-induced Migration
For Pacific islands like Palau, Tuvalu and Kiribati, the implications of climate change are clear – and devastating. Already, these governments have begun to plan for a future in which entire populations have to relocate as their islands vanish under the rising sea. But climate change also threatens ways of life in subtler ways, leaving families around the world to work …
-
17 January
Alaska’s Fishing Grounds Under Threat
The Center for American Progress published an analysis in June 2013 that detailed a proposal for a massive open-pit mine project that would unearth 12 square miles of pristine Alaska wilderness. The Pebble Limited Partnership’s mining claim lies in a remote swath of Southwest Alaska between two rivers that collectively produce more than one-quarter of the planet’s sockeye salmon and support a fishery with …
-
1 January
This Diet is Good for the Planet
2014. A new year. The time to make resolutions. It’s when we all join gyms, sign up for dating sites, and start new diets — only to quit them a few weeks later. If you’re into resolutions, I’ve got one for you to consider: In 2014, try a low-carb diet. Not a low–carb(ohydrate) diet, but a low-carbon one. As …
December, 2013
-
30 December
Chill the Drills in America’s Arctic
America’s Arctic is a place like no other. Its unique conditions — extreme weather, long periods of darkness, and its remoteness from infrastructure, make it both extremely harsh and fragile. Here, sea ice meets the northern edge of the continent, and animals congregate in great numbers. I have been fortunate to spend time in Arctic Alaska. I’ve watched walrus …
-
28 December
Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia
South Asia will be among the regions hardest hit by climate change. Higher temperatures, more extreme weather, rising sea levels, increasing cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, as well as floods in the region’s complex river systems will complicate existing development and poverty reduction initiatives. Coupled with high population density levels, these climate shifts have …
-
24 December
Elephants Are the Latest Conflict Resource in Africa
An average of about 45 elephants per day were illegally killed in 2011 in every two of five protected sites holding elephant populations in Africa, thanks to the growing illegal trade in ivory, which continues to threaten the survival of elephants on the continent. A joint report by four international conservation organizations says that 17,000 elephants were killed in 2011 …
-
21 December
They’re Feeding WHAT to Cows?
Anyone who pays even scant attention to where our food comes from is likely aware that some pretty unsavory things happen between the farm and your fork (see this month’s big story in Rolling Stone, for example). But some of these farming methods are more than just unappetizing: they could be deadly. One practice in particular could allow for the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, …
-
21 December
Asia Leading the World on Carbon Emissions Trading
It is not well known that Kazakhstan — a nation whose landmass exceeds that of Western Europe and which boasts the largest economy in Central Asia — introduced a carbon trading scheme earlier this year. It is the first Asian nation to take on an economy-wide cap and the trading system has been designed to help it achieve its goal …
-
21 December
China’s Farmers Innovate to Adapt to Climate Change
The film “Planting for Change” tells the story of how farmers in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces have responded to climatic adversity by using their own innovations and biocultural heritage – and by improving this heritage by working with scientists on participatory plant breeding projects. For the past three years, this region, which is rich in biocultural heritage and landscape beauty, has been …
