Published on Feb 20, 2013
Caught between the promise of prosperity that natural gas extraction in the Karoo Basin might bring and concerns about environmental and health impacts, citizen resistance to fracking is growing in the Republic of South Africa. Earth Focus correspondent Jeff Barbee reports.
Published on Nov 28, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
Marshes restored after they were drained under Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980′s are now under the risk of being completely destroyed due to rising temperatures and drought. Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf reports from Iraq’s southern marshes.
Published on Nov 19, 2012 by linktv
Pollination is key to the US economy, but US bee keepers say that colony collapse disorder — massive bee death — is claiming up to 80 percent of us bee colonies each year. Pesticide Action Network’s Paul Towers states that “we rely on pollinators for one in every three bits of food that we eat.” Towers talks with Earth Focus about why US agriculture and economy are at stake.
Published on Nov 21, 2012 by VOAvideo
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is a manufacturing powerhouse that relies mostly on heavily polluting coal for its ever-expanding energy needs. VOA’s William Ide reports from Beijing that, although the country’s challenges are not getting smaller, awareness of its environmental needs is growing, as are efforts to reduce its carbon emissions.
Published on Nov 1, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
Researchers are warning that rising global temperatures could see a shift in the world’s traditional staples and who grows them. They predict that maize, wheat and rice will decrease in many developing countries – forcing farmers to replace them with crops more resistant to heat, drought and flooding.
Since white settlers arrived in the American heartland of Nebraska in the 19th century, less than one per cent of the original tall grass prairie has survived an onslaught of plowing and grazing.
The prairie is home to some rare species endangered birds, flowers, and butterflies, that do not flourish anywhere else.
Nebraska’s Nine-Mile Prairie was preserved by the Cold War, its borders which were once nuclear weapon bunkers.
The prairie is now preserved by the University of Nebraska.
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren reports from Lincoln, Nebraska.
Rachel Carson wrote and published Silent Spring 50 years ago. Carson was ahead of her time. She said pesticides like DDT were damaging the environment and human health. Although the book became an inspiration for the environmental movement, the battle for the environment continues. VOA Zulima Palacio has this report.
The Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range is one of Mexico’s most precious natural treasures, boasting lush forests with rich biodiversity. It also serves as a vital carbon sink for the country. The corridor, which is under threat, has long been designated a natural reserve. Now, authorities are doubling their efforts to protect the area, teaching local communities and villages, too, how to take responsibility for their land. Reporter Michael Wetzel shows us the region’s rich diversity, from its cloud forests to wetlands to pine groves and arid zones, and he shows us how authorities are educating the locals on the urgency of protecting the nature around them.
Our earliest descendants were hunter/gatherers who foraged for their food, were in tune with their surroundings, and ate with the seasons. After foraging was essentially replaced by agriculture, people became increasingly detached from where their food came from. Foraging offers people a way to reconnect with nature and shows that food is all around us.
Honeybees, which are very important to agriculture, continue to disappear at alarming rates in the United States. And the cause of this disappearance is still elusive. While at least one recent study seems to point to pesticides as the problem, the US Agriculture Department has also found parasites causing general weakness among bee colonies. Producer Zulima Palacio spent some time with both scientists and beekeepers and brings us this story — narrated by Elizabeth Lee.
Organic waste from fields and parks in South Africa’s metropolis have been rotting away in landfills. But now a local company has turned the smelly business into big business by using the waste to produce high quality compost. The farmers are happy – the compost helps them improve soil quality without the aid of expensive fertilisers and chemical pesticides. The climate also benefits – composting the waste reduces the emission of large quantities of methane, a climate killer and by-product of rotting waste.
Twenty million of the world’s 30 million people living with HIV/AIDS are in Africa. So what better place to experiment with ways to make them more self-sufficient, improve their diet, and help overcome the social stigma of AIDS? VOA’s Peter Heinlein in Addis Ababa reports one promising solution involves growing vegetables.
