Ecology and Environment

By Jose Rafael Quesada* SAN JOSE (IDN) – Costa Rica, a small Central American country with a population of barely 5 million inhabitants, has a high human development index (ranking 69th worldwide) and is considered a consolidated democracy in Latin…

Earthquake-prone Italy has a history of rebuilding without learning from the past. Geologists are not alone in hoping this time will be different. There are signs it may be, reports Megan Williams from Accumoli and Rome. In the tent camp…

By Jeffrey Moyo MWENEZI, Zimbabwe (IDN) – Deep in Vesera village in Mwenezi district in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province, 34-year-old Albert Chindiro emerges from his pole and dagga thatched hut holding a medium size solar panel which he positions on the…

The floodwaters are receding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the scale of the damage is revealing itself. It has been described as a 1,000-year flood, leaving at least 13 people dead and close to 60,000 homes ruined. According to Weather…

Human Wrongs Watch By Baher Kamal* ROME, 24 August 2016 (IPS) – “Every evening, millions of people all over the world will settle into their armchairs to watch some TV after a hard day at work. Many will have a…

Germany is home to 83 million people. But that isn’t the country’s total population: It’s also home to about 27 million pigs, 12.6 million cattle, and nearly 40 million egg-producing hens. Their lives are very hard. Many of these animals…

Human Wrongs Watch By Monique Barbut*,  Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification  WINDHOEK, Aug 18 2016 (IPS) – Let us start with some good news.  Sort of.  The strongest El Niño in 35 years is coming…

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has been on the cards for more than 15 years to be built in Somerset, England by French state run EDF with the addition of Chinese capital. The cost has been spiralling up and…

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan The first marathon, legend has it, occurred in ancient Greece in 490 B.C. The Athenians had repelled an invasion by the Persians, and a messenger was dispatched to run from the scene of the…

Neonicotinoids, a widely used class of insecticide, are suspected of harming honeybee populations. But there is growing evidence that they might also have detrimental effects on other important pollinators. Researchers believe neonicotinoids might at least in part be responsible for…