The ground beneath our feet

Why soil health and biodiversity matters for the survival of the planet

Twist in the (fairy)tale

How might fairy tales read if written in today’s times? When Fairyland Lost Its Magic is an attempt at that

Simply Put: Plastic waste

Africa Union Commission calls for acceleration of efforts towards malnutrition-free Africa

Experts at the meeting called to strengthen school feeding programmes to alleviate hunger, reap psychological benefits like increased …

Elephant tourism often involves cruelty — here are steps toward more humane, animal-friendly excursions

Part of the problem lies with governments, as many have marketed tourism as a way to fund conservation projects

After Bengaluru, now Bogota? High in the Andes, Colombia’s capital begins water rationing

City facing the cumulative impacts of El Nino climate phenomenon, says Colombian environment minister

Carbon Controversy: Corporate climate action watchdog’s new decision regarding use of offsetting causes backlash

Without sufficient guardrails and stringent oversight, there is a risk of writing off the responsibility of businesses to actually reduce the …

Ghanaians love rice — how smallholder farmers could harvest more of it with the help of machines

Efforts to produce more rice often results in increased labour-intensive work for smallholder farmers

Ongoing coral bleaching at Great Barrier Reef may be as bad or worse than 2016 event

Coral species considered to be resistant to bleaching also found to be affected and dying

Whooping cough cases outbreak reported around the world

China, Australia, Spain among countries with high number of patients with the respiratory infection

Baobab reforestation efforts show rapid impact in Madagascar

Down To Earth speaks to two scientists on efforts to conserve the iconic trees of the world’s fourth-largest island

World’s largest companies are failing on climate action, new report shows

A heavy reliance on carbon offsetting helps companies shirk accountability for a majority of their emissions

220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be created in 2024: EA Earth Action

Just 12 countries are responsible for 60% of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, the top five being China, USA, India, Brazil, and …

A gene variant could lower chances of developing Alzheimer’s by 70%, could help in design of new treatments: Study

It works by preventing build-up of fibronectin, a component of the blood-brain barrier that controls the movement of substances in and out of the …

India had over 11% of global hepatitis burden in 2022, with 35.3 million cases

WHO’s Global Hepatitis Report shows deaths due to hepatitis increased since 2019 

Trillions more need to be invested if SDGs are to be rescued: UN report

Bold actions needed to scale up SDG investment and reform global financial system

The limits of ice: What a 19th century expedition trapped in sea ice for a year tells us about Antarctica’s future

Antarctica’s sea ice has held out for longer. A ship like the Belgica could have been stuck in sea ice as late as 2015

Hospital-acquired infections kill thousands, cost sub-Saharan Africa $8.4 billion annually, says WaterAid

Nigeria recorded the highest incidence of HAIs in 2022, followed by Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Mali

Russia-Kazakhstan floods: Is climate change warming the Ural Mountains and western Siberia?

Reserach papers note that the Urals are indeed warming; as is Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Republic and among the largest countries globally by area

European Court of Human Rights reprimands Switzerland for not doing enough to tackle climate change

Violations of the European Convention for failing to implement sufficient measures to combat climate change, the court ruled

West Africa’s falling fish stocks: Illegal Chinese trawlers, climate change and artisanal fishing fleets to blame

Current west African coastal fishing crisis in the Gulf of Guinea is complex because it has multiple and reinforcing origins

Scheduled for Day Zero

The cities with population above 1 million in 2016, which would face water scarcity in 2050

Traders smuggle potent greenhouse gas, primarily used for cooling, to Europe: EIA investigation

Traders have been illegally sourcing hydrofluorocarbon, primarily from China and Türkiye, and routing it through Bulgaria into the rest of …

Drought turns up the heat on wildfire recovery in western US, NASA data reveals

Research finds that when droughts coincide with wildfires, the recovery process takes a significant hit

Deepfakes: can the AI be harnessed for something good?

While audiences and users need to be educated on the negative implications of deepfakes, the technology can also have positive impacts