Earth is a blue planet, but its color is fading fast. The world’s oceans, two thirds of the planet’s surface, are in rapid decline. Climate change and overfishing lead the list of culprits: to save our seas we must cut carbon and put away our nets.
Sushi is the new steak and modern cuisine can’t do without the occasional lobster tail. Seafood is sold at a loss by a subsidized commercial fishing industry that is the oceans’ worst enemy besides climate change.
The Pacific Garbage Patch is poisoning the ocean food chain, says its discoverer Captain Charles Moore. The founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation reports on his 2009 visit to the “plastic cesspool”, and explains why he will never go back.
Scientists estimate that one quarter of all untapped oil and gas reserves lie in the Arctic. Global warming is making them accessible, prompting intense competition for the resources of the North. Science journalist Christoph Seidler describes this “Arctic Monopoly”.
As governments negotiate a global climate treaty while navigating a global economic downturn, policymakers and the public are asking: What are the costs of climate change?
Many people wonder what governments, businesses, and citizens must sacrifice to tackle climate change. Can we bear the expense of a world without fossil fuels? How many jobs and how much income will be lost? Is it really worth the effort?
The continent’s worst natural disaster in more than a hundred years has claimed nearly 200 lives and left thousands homeless. In the wake of the tragedy, the search for the causes begins.
Global warming is intensifying the water cycle — the process of precipitation, infiltration, and evaporation. In the future, the wet will get wetter and the dry will become drier.
Prices for staple foods are more volatile than ever. In the middle of a global recession, will politicians and executives address the problem?
The specter of international water wars is often raised as a potential result of water scarcity. But how real is the threat?
