Archive for November 2021

JAKARTA — Indonesia has no effective mechanism for resolving its epidemic of land conflicts between rural communities and palm oil companies, according to a new study. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil, but the industry’s rapid expansion has fueled deforestation and allegations of land grabbing throughout the archipelago nation. The study, produced […]

Should the U.S. help low-income households afford water service, as it does with heating and groceries? Chile does. An economist explains how it works there and how it could work here.

The evidence is clear: Forests are shifting to scrublands across large swaths of the Western U.S.

It’s six in the morning and the beach is empty. The tide has erased the footprints from the sand, and the surface is a blank slate of white and perfectly smooth sand. On this cloudy morning, the only visitors to Tortuga Bay, one of the most popular beaches on the island of Santa Cruz, are […]

Getting people to act takes more than strong words, a new study says.

From above, the Lhaviyani atoll in the Maldives forms a rough oval, encircling a turquoise stretch of the Indian Ocean speckled with islands. But on the ground, populations of insects, crabs, spiders and other invertebrate species in these tropical havens have probably suffered from growing human intrusion, researchers reported recently in Royal Society Open Science. […]

Greenland’s glaciers grind rock into a fine powder that discolors meltwater and often makes beautiful patterns as it mixes with seawater.

Earlier this month, six young activists associated with advocacy group Mother Nature Cambodia were released on bail after spending up to 14 months in prison. Although nominally at liberty, their charges of conspiracy, insulting the monarchy, and incitement were upheld and they remain under strict court supervision. This week, their commitment was recognized when Mother […]

The Inland Delta of the Niger River is one of the world’s most productive wetlands.

Mount Sundoro and Mount Sumbing are symmetrical, cone-shaped peaks in Central Java.