Human Interest

Sara Menker quit a career in commodities trading to figure out how the global value chain of agriculture works. Her discoveries have led to some startling predictions: "We could have a tipping point in global food and agriculture if surging demand surpasses the agricultural system's structural capacity to produce food," she says. "People could starve and governments may fall." Menker's models predict that this scenario could happen in a decade -- that the world could be short 214 trillion calories per year by 2027. She offers a vision of this impossible world as well as some steps we can take today to avoid it.

Climate change 101

Via Andy Dorn

Via Andy Dorn

The world affairs series returns for a new run, starting in Indonesia, home to the planet's most polluted river and a textile industry supplying some of th

Via Andy Dorn

Women and children among the 29 dead and 22 missing from group of Somali and Ethiopian migrants

Via Andy Dorn

Some global corporations are trying to address the environmental impact of throwaway culture, but campaigners say they remain part of the problem

Via Andy Dorn, Alexandra Piggott

In Kind Direct charity warns of ‘hidden crisis’ facing thousands after it distributes £20.2m of hygiene products in one year

Via Andy Dorn

Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change and a cynic about the nature of academic research. But through hi

Via Andy Dorn

Humans must start removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as soon as possible to avoid saddling future generations with a choice between extreme climate change or spending hundreds of trillions of dollars to avoid it, according to new research. An international team of researchers – led by Professor Jim Hansen, Nasa’s former climate science chief – said their conclusion that the world had already overshot targets to limit global warming to within acceptable levels was “sufficiently grim” to force them to urge “rapid emission reductions”.

Via Andy Dorn

Via Andy Dorn

Discover how much WATER we EAT every day

Via Andy Dorn

Via Andy Dorn

The real cause of our environmental crisis is captalism, says the Guardian writer George Monbiot

Via Andy Dorn

India overtaking China, Africa growing at double speed, these are just some of the insights into population growth.

Via Andy Dorn

Wayne Lotter had received numerous death threats while battling international ivory-trafficking networks

Via Andy Dorn

Behavioural evidence suggests marine organisms are not just ingesting microplastics by accident but actively seeking them out as food

Via Andy Dorn

The worst drought in 40 years has a cruel grip on Somalia. A struggling young government and militant violence have compounded to bring crisis to 6.7 million lives. In Baidoa, surrounded by territory controlled by al-Shabaab, 160,000 people have had to leave their farms and are surviving in camps

Via Andy Dorn

The Thai government claims it is regulating the fishing industry more tightly, yet slavery persists. One man, duped into the trade and whose nightmare ended a few years ago, is determined to pursue justice for fellow victims

Via Andy Dorn

John Abrahm: A policy briefing from the Woods Hole Research Center concludes that the IPCC doesn’t adequately account for a methane warming feedback

Via Andy Dorn

Beneath the waves, coral reefs are dying on a massive scale. These scientists and filmmakers are fighting to stop it. Chasing Coral is now streaming o

Via Andy Dorn