First posted on June 07, 2014 Extracts from: War and the Environment Until recent times armies lived off the land; their logistical support systems were so rudimentary that nothing else was possible.10 This process provides the key to much of the damage caused by wars, from ancient times onwards. Classical Greece exemplified the process. The Mediterranean… Read More Richard P. Tucker on War and the Environment
With short amulet-covered spears made of blackened chonta palm, GIS mapping phones, walkie-talkies and wearing black and green uniforms, the A’i Cofán seem to merge into the jungle as they march silently down a path through their land. Calling themselves the Indigenous guard, the 27-strong group patrols a territory of 243 sq miles (630 sq… Read More ‘Leave the gold in the ground’: Ecuador’s forest guardians mobilise against illegal mining in Amazon
Jonathan Watts in Altamira Cows, dust and smoke. That was what greeted me on my return home to Altamira, after several weeks on the road. An unusually fierce dry season has taken a horrific toll on the Amazonian landscape, swathes of which are already denuded by cattle ranches. Together, they threaten the integrity of the world’s… Read More ‘Everything is parched’: Amazon struggles with drought amid deforestation
Birdwatchers from around the world have celebrated the arrival of a rare eastern osprey chick in South Australia. Fran Solly, secretary of the Friends of Osprey conservation group, says everyone in Tumby Island and Port Lincoln knows about the chick that hatched last Thursday. But the livestream has captivated bird watchers from as far away as… Read More Rare eastern osprey chick hatches in South Australia, captivating birdwatchers around the world
By Timothy Neal, UNSW Sydney Scientists say severe climate change is now the greatest threat to humanity. Extreme weather is expected to upend lives and livelihoods, intensifying wildfires and pushing ecosystems towards collapse as ocean heatwaves savage coral reefs. The threats are far-reaching and widespread. So what effect would you expect this to have on the economy… Read More Climate Crisis: Economists have severely underestimated the Financial Hit
Modi govt’s dogged pursuit of a plan to open forests for commercial plantation began shortly after taking office, documents show. Though it faced pushback for hurting tribal rights and forests, the plan reached a fruition through the recent Forest (Conservation)Act amendment. Tapasya & Nitin Sethi The Modi government persisted in finding ways to open up… Read More Modi govt unlocks forests for business, a pursuit that began in 2015
Vic O’Sullivan Go to the Aran Islands. Live there as if you were one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression,” was, according to the poet WB Yeats, how he persuaded the playwright John Millington Synge to discover his muse – the desolate beauty of the Aran archipelago. Whatever was the… Read More Ocean views and authors lost: a literary tour of Ireland’s wild west coast
Patrick Wintour When the climate crisis meets a failed state, the outcome is the kind of disaster that Libya is witnessing in Derna. Any city would have struggled with the extraordinary level of precipitation that Storm Daniel visited upon Libya’s northern coast. In its earlier, milder form, the storm caused severe damage in Greece before it crossed the Mediterranean.… Read More Libya’s floods are result of climate crisis meeting a failed state
By TIK ROOT August was another month of relatively good news for the Amazon rainforest: The rate of deforestation has continued to decline significantly. Earlier this week, Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister, announced a 66.1 percent decrease in Amazon deforestation compared to last August. That amounted to a loss of about 217 square miles, according to… Read More Amazon deforestation continues to plummet
The 1,300km Karakoram Highway cuts through some of the most astounding rock faces on the planet. It’s a road trip of dreams, yet few have ever heard of it or how it came to be. By Samantha Shea Crisp mountain air rushed in through the car window as I drove past jagged mountain landscapes. Despite… Read More The road that’s the ‘Eighth World Wonder’
After the truth-shower 