Joël Guiot, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) and Wolfgang Cramer, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) The Mediterranean basin, which includes the Mediterranean Sea and the countries it borders, is often referred to as a hotspot for climate change and biodiversity. This image is used to illustrate the multiple risks for the region, its people and […]
Nomads of the Algerian steppe no longer
The residents of El Guedid near Djelfa no longer move with the seasons as Algeria’s reduced rainfall cannot sustain grazing along the pastoral routes and mechanised farming has overworked the land.
The lifeblood of Egypt is running dry
Death of the Nile By Ayah Aman, May 23, 2019. The lifeblood of Egypt is running dry The clock strikes five on a hot and dry fall morning when 60-something Ali al-Faqi makes his way through the darkness to meet up with four other farmers at the mosque of his Nile Delta village. By the […]
Urban rooms: where people get to design their city’s future
Tim Dixon, University of Reading and Lorraine Farrelly, University of Reading Despite the strong Utopian traditions of urban planning, there has often been a reluctance to think beyond the short term. Long-term planning is complex; electoral cycles are short and it’s easier to focus on the everyday challenges than those of the far-off future. For […]
How Renewable Energy Will Alter the Global Geopolitical Calculus
It wasn’t that long ago that most of the energy used on the Earth came from muscles. People and animals did most of the work, with an occasional assist from a water wheel. Ships relied on the wind to get from port to port. Then along came James Watt and his steam engine and everything […]
Keeping Global Warming Below 1.5°C
“It’s good news from a geophysical point of view,” says the lead researcher. “We are basically saying we can’t build anything now that emits fossil fuels.” – Christopher Smith, University of Leeds, UK. The image above is of A solar farm in Brockville, Ontario. (Photo: Jonathan Potts/flickr/cc) Keeping Global Warming Below 1.5°C May Still Be Possible with […]