Worldcrunch
In Colombia, the possibility of integrating insects to our diets is gaining traction, with a little help from former FARC members. Some of the critters have a higher protein percentage than beef and cost less to produce. Not to mention that their consumption could help mitigate the environmental impact of eating conventional animal protein.
The outgoing Sri Lankan government had signed an agreement in secret for the Indian conglomerate Adani to build a wind farm in the north of the country. Now the newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake arrives with plans to scrap the massive project.
While it has long been used to control rain, cloud seeding is now attracting growing interest in some countries, particularly China. But scientists don’t agree on either its effectiveness or its own possible harm to the environmental.
Students at the Saint-Charles school in Monaco are starting their school year in a classroom created by French designer Stéphanie Marin. Today, rethinking school furniture to reflect current teaching methods and respond to ecological challenges has become necessary — and designers are not short on ideas.
How can trucks be powered in a non-polluting way? The industry has been looking for good solutions for a long time. Now, electric trucks are gaining ground. The shift towards electric could actually happen faster than with cars.
The president of Turkmenistan announced plans to extinguish the country’s famous “Gates of Hell” gas crater sometime in 2024. But it’s by no means the only one of its kind. We rounded up the eternal flames still burning in all corners of the globe.
The golf industry claims it generates 225 million euros each year in Murcia, or 0.8% of the southeastern Spanish region’s GDP, which is also the driest in Spain.
The global fight against climate change is essential, but the solutions are not universal. Measures must account for the local realities of the Global South, where economic development is equally important and where the imposition of strict environmental standards by the North has devastating social and economic consequences.
Over the past five years, tuk-tuk prices have soared because of a government ban on importing the vehicle, and the inflation waves that rocked the Arab world’s most populous country. But tuk-tuks are not only a preferred system of transport, they are also a source of income for a large part of the Egyptian population — and the price hikes are crushing many young people’s dreams.
Updated August 21, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Brazil reports fires burning in the Amazon Rainforest at unprecedented rate on this day in 2019. How extensive were the fires in the Amazon rainforest? The fires in the Amazon rainforest of 2019 were widespread, affecting multiple countries in the region. The exact extent of the fires varied, […]
The popularity of cruises on the rivers of France and Europe is growing steadily with the wave of slow tourism. A way of traveling that reconciles freedom, concern for the environment and a different relationship with time.
Oil development in Uganda and Tanzania, driven by the French multinational TotalEnergies, is met with opposition from local communities and social and environmental activists. The projects are surrounded by allegations of threats and human rights abuses.
Updated July 26, 2024 at 11:20 a.m. The Solar Impulse 2 completed its historic circumnavigation of the Earth on this day in 2016, after a journey that spanned approximately 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers) and took over a year to complete. It demonstrated the feasibility of long-duration, solar-powered flights, encouraging further research and innovation in renewable […]
The Central U.S. is at risk for major disaster. But scientists don’t know why — or when — the next big one will strike.
The adult toy industry generates hundreds of millions of tons of waste a year. To counter their environmental impact, brands are now producing more eco-friendly erotic accessories using biodegradable materials and green practices throughout the production chain.
Updated July 10, 2024 at 12:15 p.m. The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was bombed on this day in 1985. The bombing was carried out by agents of the French intelligence service, specifically the “Action Service” division of the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE). What was the motive behind the Rainbow Warrior bombing? The French government […]
Impoverished by decades of intensive farming, soils are losing their capacity to store carbon and retain water. Today, alternative farming methods try to offer a solution to the problem, but the results are far from ideal.
Cedar trees across Mongolia bear the wounds of an illegal market for their prized nuts.
Pollution and climate change have prompted some cities to convert into more sustainable and liveable spaces. But these same policies can widen social inequality. How can cities fix this paradox?
Updated May 18, 2024 at 11 a.m. The volcano Mount St. Helens erupted on this day in 1980, in the state of Washington, United States. What caused the eruption of Mount St. Helens? The eruption of Mount St. Helens was caused by a combination of geological factors, including the movement of tectonic plates, the buildup […]
While Paris aims to host the greenest Olympics this summer, the French company Rebond is working to make soccer balls, typically pumped up with petrochemicals, more environmentally friendly by using bio-sourced and recyclable materials.
The UK government wants its farming sector to transition to a more sustainable model. But farmers fear the complex post-Brexit agricultural policy and lack of EU subsidies are threatening their livelihood.
Light pollution in Chile’s Atacama Desert, home to crucial star-gazing infrastructure, is threatening the future of astronomy. Can a new nationwide lighting standard make a difference?
Updated April 26, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on this day in 1986, on Ukrainian territory of the Soviet Union. It was the worst nuclear disaster in history, both in terms of the human and environmental impact. How did the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happen? The […]
An investigation reveals that the company does not own any of the three renewable power plants it claims to operate in Spain — as well as a scheme allowing Amazon to dodge full regulatory oversight of its projects.
For the past 30 years, the number of wolves has steadily increased in France — great news for biodiversity but not for farmers, who are accusing the predator of attacking and killing their livestock. The topic, which has become explosive, is symbolic of a very contemporary divide in the country.
Camels’ resilience to climate change and increasingly sought-after milk make them more and more attractive for intensive farming in the Middle East. But this shift could prove detrimental to both the environment and the region’s traditional camel herding.
How can we make the city both more dense and more liveable? By opening up its rooftops! At a time of land scarcity and global warming, this vast reservoir of largely unused land is the focus of much interest.
The industrial revolution, which was also agricultural, allowed humanity to escape the “nutritional trap.” Now, agriculture is facing new challenges: income and ecological traps.
Located between Marrakech and Casablanca, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is trying to replicate the recipes that have made the United States’ Silicon Valley successful, fusing research and business — with special attention given to green energies and food sovereignty.
Updated March 24, 2024 at 12:20 p.m. The oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on this day in 1989, causing a massive oil spill. The captain, Joseph Hazelwood, had left the bridge, leaving an inexperienced third mate in charge, who then failed to properly maneuver the ship. […]
Emilio Santiago, senior scientist at the CSIC and author of the book Contra El Mito Del Colapso Ecológico (Against The Myth Of The Ecological Collapse), believes that downplaying the importance of the climate crisis is as suicidal as letting yourself be carried away by paralyzing fear. Ecological collapse, he warns, is counterproductive to the transformation of our economic model.
The number of pirogues leaving the African coast to reach the Canary Islands more than doubled in 2023. Among them are many Senegalese fishermen forced to leave because of the scarcity of fish resources that trawlers, some of them foreign, come to fish in their waters.
The climate crisis could provide an opportunity to invent a new way of discovering the world that is more local and sustainable.
From setting new rules, imposing tolls and fines, local officials in some of the world’s most desirable tourist spots are trying to figure out the right balance to keep visitors coming without ruining the environment, or the experience.
The industrial port in the southern Italian region of Puglia is also home to the massive Ilva steel plant, which has risked closure in part because of its damage to the environment and public health. But Taranto lives up to its nickname of the city of contradictions.
Greta Thunberg tapped into an growing area of scholarship when she wrote recently that to save the planet, we first need to dismantle ‘colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression.’
For decades, countries like Germany have resisted implementing school uniforms. But dress codes in schools are not just for the elite. They can help reduce social stigma for students living in poverty, as well as helping fight the climate crisis.
For a combination of spiritual and political reasons, Rastas developed a diet based on healthy, local ingredients that was a precursor, it turns out, to some current food trends.
Amid a mounting sense of urgency about the threat of climate change, our smartphones’ human and environmental consequences are back in the spotlight — and so are the solutions to minimize their impact.