Issues & Trends

Two years after a long-lasting undersea heat wave scalded large sections of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have found that because so many corals died, much of the reef has probably been altered “forever.”

We’re currently heading for around 3 degrees of warming

Global average temperatures have risen about 1.1 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times. At current rates, they could exceed 1.5 degrees by 2030. And global greenhouse gas emissions, after a brief lull from 2014 to 2016, are rising again.

Humans are now fishing at least 55 percent of the world’s oceans — an area four times larger than the area occupied by humanity’s onshore agriculture.

      All parents remember the moment when they first held their children—the tiny crumpled face, an entire new person, emerging from the hospital blanket. I extended my hands and took my daughter in my arms. I was so overwhelmed that I could hardly think.

Scripps researcher Tyler Cyronak and test chambers in a study of ocean acidification effects on coral reef sediments in Bermuda

Much of the sediment that serves as the foundation of most coral reef ecosystems could begin to erode within 30 years as a result of increasing ocean acidity, according to new research.

The world's poorest countries are making progress toward the United Nations' sustainable energy goals, but not as quickly as development agencies had hoped, according to a new report from the UN, the World Health Organization and three other international agencies.

(CNN)Nine out of every 10 people on the planet breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants and kills 7 million people each year, according to a new study from the World Health Organization.

A 14-year NASA mission has confirmed that a massive redistribution of freshwater is occurring across Earth, with middle-latitude belts drying and the tropics and higher latitudes gaining water supplies.

BUENOS AIRES, May 17 2018 (IPS) - Climate change is one of the main drivers of migration and will be increasingly so. It will even have a more significant role in the displacement of people than armed conflicts, which today cause major refugee crises.

Infographic: A World of Languages

View the high resolution version of today’s graphic by clicking here.

Languages provide a window into culture and history. They’re also a unique way to map the world – not through landmasses or geopolitical borders, but through mother tongues.

THE TOWER OF BABEL