Poor air quality can affect pregnancy, raise death risk
High level of pollutants in air is responsible for one of every nine global deaths, totaling over seven million premature deaths a year, …
Vital roles bees and other pollinators play in food chain
Pollination contributes to one-third of the world’s agricultural crops production, says Food and Agriculture Organization
Space Race 2.0: Littered backyard
There have been about 70 anti-satellite missile missions by four countries, but only a few have been catalogued for creating debris
World Earth Day: Colonialism’s role in the overexploitation of natural resources
Colonialists saw “new” territories as places with unlimited resources to exploit, with little consideration for the long-term impacts
Why women in economics have little to celebrate
Twenty five years ago around half of the students studying Year 12 economics were female. Today it is only a third.
Loss and damage: Displacements
Globally, disasters, mostly cyclones and floods, triggered most internal displacements, or movements, in 2021.
Opinion: Earthquakes are a boon for Earth
Earthquakes are natural but huge losses of life and property during the incidence of an earthquake are anthropogenic
Extreme anomalies
Between January and June 2019 extreme weather events across the world broke the century-mark
Bet your brain
The market is flooded with brain boosters, even though there is little evidence to show for it
Dams proposed on five Chilean rivers scrapped
Chilean firm Endesa, which was to construct the dams, said it will work only on projects 'embraced by local communities'
Researchers find new carbohydrate in barley
Research in Australian varsity shows the polysaccharide occurs due to biosynthesis
One step forward, two steps back
The initial phase of UPA II witnessed prolific rule making, but this was not followed up with responsible governance
World seeing signs of climate breakdown: Antonio Guterres
UN Pact for Future must prioritise communities bearing brunt of climate emergency, says UN secretary-general
Robots develop new semiconductor materials in tests that are 10 times faster & greener
With the technology, scientists have been able to develop alloys with perovskites materials that can improve solar cells
Road to COP15: DTE’s coverage in the run-up to Montreal
The 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity will be held from December 7-19, 2022
James Webb Telescope captures clearest view of Neptune’s rings after 3 decades
Webb images vividly display Neptune’s fainter dust bands in addition to many brilliant, narrow rings
We’ve been tracking birds in a small Nigerian forest for 18 years: What we found & why it matters
Population changes locally for both migrant and resident bird species were similar, being reasonably stable or increasing
Basic water services in South Africa are in decay after years of progress
In South Africa, the right to water is enshrined in the constitution
Single-use plastic ban: Environment lessons India can learn from East Africa
Import, manufacturing or sale of single-use plastic bags in Kenya could earn a fine of $40,000 for companies and $500 for individuals
All that happened at UNCCD COP14
The 14th Conference of Parties in New Delhi saw delegates discuss desertification in detail. Here are the discussions they did and decisions they made
‘We expect to find more interstellar comets in the future’
Nasa scientist Davide Farnocchia, who was one of the first to make observations about the new interstellar comet, speaks to Down To Earth
‘Rejuvenation treatment can delay onset of heart diseases, cancer’
Steve Horvath, a geneticist who was able to reverse nine people’s biological clock recently, spoke to Down To Earth about the study
Pacific heatwave: ‘More research needed to find what causes this’
Down To Earth speaks to marine heatwave experts Nicholas Bond about the high sea surface temperature anomaly in the Pacific and its significance
Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change
How will climate change affect our lives? Where will its impacts be most deeply felt? Are we doing enough to protect ourselves from the coming chaos?
Africa's Ecology: Sustaining the Biological and Environment Diversity of a Continent
Driven by exponential population growth and the effects of globalization, haphazard development across Africa threatens the continent's natural …