Issues & Trends

A report says a third of Africans are now middle class. Their interests coincide with the interests of the poor and should help to bring about change

Global warming is already cutting substantially into potential crop yields in some countries — to such an extent that it may be a factor in the food price increases that have caused worldwide stress in recent years, researchers suggest in a new study.
Green

"Very radical" concept could be a game-changer for the solar industry.

Cambridge, MA, USA -- MIT researchers and their collaborators have come up with an unusual, high performance and possibly less expensive way of turning the sun's heat into electricity.

How China's capital got in over its head, and what the city is doing to get its water crisis under control.

OSLO — Global sea levels will rise faster than expected this century, partly because of quickening climate change in the Arctic and a thaw of Greenland’s ice, an international report said Tuesday.

Long after the political uprisings in the Middle East have subsided, many underlying challenges that are not now in the news will remain. Prominent among these are rapid population growth, spreading water shortages, and ever growing food insecurity.

Government says the U.S.

Figures reflect sharp increase in moves to towns and cities in past decade and effect after 30 years of one-child policy

Praise for Nuclear Report:

"a vital public service... uniquely independent, thorough, and timely assessment"
       -Amory B. Lovins, Chairman, Rocky Mountain Institute

(Reuters) - The world has to act against hunger, which affects 13 percent of the population, if it wants to strengthen global security, a candidate to run the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Tuesday.