Damian Carrington

Droughts and rising sea levels could reverse efforts to improve living conditions of world's poorest people, report warns

SEAPLEX researchers estimate tens of thousands of tons of debris annually ingested by fish in middle ocean depths of North Pacific Ocean

SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON – The health of the world's oceans is declining much faster than originally thought — under siege from pollution, overfishing and other man-made problems all at once — scientists say in a new report.

The New York Times

EDWARD WONG

DANJIANGKOU, China — North China is dying.

Multimedia

Keith Bradsher

A Chinese farmer on dry farmland on the outskirts of Rizhao, Shandong Province, in January.

By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue

Exploring an escalating confrontation over resources with global implications.

Water scarcity, rapid economic growth and soaring energy demand are forming a tightening noose that could choke off China's modernization.

By Chris Holly 

• Bad sanitation, water account for 7 percent of global disease
• Billions of people have no access to hygienic toilets

The $62-billion South-North Water Diversion, which will bring water to the parched capital, is being compared to the Great Wall. But environmentalists are up in arms about the 'replumbing' of the nation's great rivers.

There is still one subject in international development that goes unmentioned. It is an issue that touches on the lives and health of millions of individuals, and one which world leaders have promised to address.