"After years of environmental assault — from dam building, overfishing, and logging — stretches of the Mekong River, upon which millions of people depend, appear to be recovering. Heavy rains have helped, along with a crackdown on illegal fishing and other conservation efforts."
When humans began to put down roots, we also started to forge what Giulio Boccaletti calls a “social contract” with water. In his new book, “Water: A Biography,” the London-based scientist explores that relationship through a long historical lens. BookShelf contributor Gary Wilson reviews the volume and finds that political ambitions and economic development are central to the story.
"A tripling of size is planned at the fastest-growing coal mine in India".
"Before sunset, in the 110-square-mile mining region of Jharia in eastern India, an ensemble of girls dances near an opencast coal mine. Come sunrise, they'll be back at the mines for another reason: survival."
"Cabbage moths, corn borers and other plant-eating insects crucial to ecosystems have declined dramatically in East Asia over the past two decades — along with dragonflies and other predator insects that eat them, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances."
"The crisis facing billionaire Gautam Adani has revealed a potential pitfall in India’s ambitious plan to reduce emissions: its reliance on the country’s most affluent and powerful private citizens."
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s rivers are impeded by dams and we keep building them in our quest for cleaner and greener sources of electricity. But as podcast producer Farha Akhtar learned while producing a recent episode, these monumental structures are having a profound impact on our planet and catastrophic consequences for many Indigenous people.
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