World Development News

November 7, 2016

Global Economic Downturn Linked to Cancer Deaths

Globally, More Obese Than Underweight

Severe Water Stress Likely in Asia by 2050

Global Nitrogen Footprint Mapped for First Time

Latest Headlines

updated 5:06pm EST

Yesterday's Silk Road Could Be Tomorrow's Environmental Superhighway

Nov. 4, 2016 — While China is building a gigantic modern-day upgrade of the famed ancient Silk Road resplendent in global cooperation in the name of economic expansion, a group of ... read more

Elephant Poaching Costs African Economies $25 Million Per Year in Lost Tourism Revenue

Nov. 1, 2016 — In Africa, tens of thousands of elephants are killed by poachers each year. Now a new study shows that this poaching crisis ... read more

Scientists Root for More Cassava Research to Help Meet Greater Demand for Food

Oct. 25, 2016 — Global food demand is expected to grow by 110 per cent over the next 30 to 35 years, and for many of the poorest people on the planet, particularly ... read more

Report Reveals a Big Dependence on Freshwater Fish for Global Food Security

Oct. 24, 2016 — Freshwater fish play a surprisingly crucial role in feeding some of the world's most vulnerable people, according to a ... read more

The Fight Against Deforestation: Why Are Congolese Farmers Clearing Forest?

Oct. 21, 2016 — Only a small share of Congolese villagers is the driving force behind most of the deforestation. They're not felling trees to feed their families, but to increase their ... read more

Drought-Tolerant Species Thrive Despite Returning Rains in the Sahel

Oct. 19, 2016 — Following the devastating droughts in the 70s and 80s in the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert, vegetation has now recovered. What surprised the researchers is that ... read more

Amazon Fishery Management Provides Rare 'Win-Win' Chance for Conservation and Poverty Alleviation

Oct. 20, 2016 — A study into freshwater lake management along the Amazon’s most meandering river has demonstrated astounding benefits to local livelihoods in ... read more

Future of Antarctic Marine Protected Areas at Risk

Oct. 13, 2016 — Antarctica's surrounding waters are home to some of the healthiest marine ecosystems on Earth and support thriving populations of krill, seabirds, fish and whales. But efforts to establish a network ... read more

Climate Change May Help Ethiopia, Increase the Country's Access to Water

Oct. 12, 2016 — Despite the many disastrous impacts of climate change, there are some regions of the globe that might benefit from hotter temperatures. A team of researchers have predicted that water availability in ... read more

Climate Change Jigsaw Puzzle: Antarctic Pieces Missing

Sep. 28, 2016 — A shift in westerly winds, which has led to climate impacts in Australia and the Southern Ocean, is human-induced, new research suggests. To date, limited data on Antarctic ... read more

Starving to Death: Boko Haram's Food Crisis in Nigeria

Djibouti's Khat Addiction Holding Back Development

India Seeks 'climate Justice' For Poor Nations at Paris Talks

New Yorkers Rally for New UN Climate and Poverty Goals

Perceptions of Tap Water Quality Linked to PTSD in Flint, Michigan, Residents

Nov. 1, 2016 — The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, increased the stress levels of community residents, according to new ... read more

Risk Analysis for Common Ground on Climate Loss and Damage

Oct. 20, 2016 — The Paris Agreement included groundbreaking text on the need for a mechanism to help identify risks beyond adaptation and support the victims of climate-related loss and damage--but how exactly it ... read more

Addressing Climate Change as a Social Issue

Sep. 20, 2016 — We cannot rely on governments, businesses or the public to adopt technological solutions to solve the problem of climate change, instead, social solutions must be put in place, according to ... read more

Climate Change Means Land Use Will Need to Change to Keep Up With Global Food Demand, Say Scientists

Sep. 20, 2016 — Without significant improvements in technology, global crop yields are likely to fall in the areas currently used for production of the world’s three major cereal crops, forcing production to move ... read more

Neglected Tropical Diseases: Progress Towards Addressing the Chronic Pandemic

Sep. 15, 2016 — A review of the progress made in addressing the chronic pandemic of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has now been released. The authors looked at the progress made in terms of the donated medicines ... read more

Global Food Security Aided by Combining Different Methods

Sep. 12, 2016 — Researchers are closer to helping producers better meet global food demand, now that they've combined simulation and statistical methods to help them predict how temperature affects wheat crops ... read more

Experts Urge a Defensive Stance in Efforts Against Antimicrobial Resistance

Sep. 8, 2016 — The United Nations should reframe global efforts against antimicrobial resistance by adopting a defensive stance, say experts who have suggested that focus should be in building the resilience of ... read more

Do Teachers' Climate Change Beliefs Influence Students?

Sep. 7, 2016 — The strongest predictors of North Carolina middle school students' beliefs in human-caused climate change: a science teacher's belief that global warming is happening and the students' ... read more

Recessions Are Harmful to Health

Sep. 6, 2016 — A review of studies investigating the 2008 recession in Europe show it was associated with adverse health outcomes, particularly for suicides and mental health problems, finds a ... read more

World Risk Report 2016: Inadequate Infrastructure Pushes Up the Risk of Disaster

Aug. 25, 2016 — The World Risk Report 2016 analyzes the role that infrastructure plays in shaping a country's disaster risk. The World Risk Index, an integral part of the report, ranks 171 countries according ... read more

Climate Change: Trade Liberalization Could Buffer Economic Losses in Agriculture

Aug. 24, 2016 — Global warming could create substantial economic damage in agriculture, a new study finds. Around the globe, climate change threatens agricultural productivity, forcing up food prices. As the ... read more

Biological Invasions Threaten Developing Countries

Aug. 23, 2016 — Invasions from alien species such as Japanese knotweed and grey squirrels threaten the economies and livelihoods of residents of some of the world's poorest nations, new research ... read more

Scientists Combine Satellite Data, Machine Learning to Map Poverty

Aug. 18, 2016 — The availability of accurate and reliable information on the location of impoverished zones is surprisingly lacking for much of the world. Applying machine learning to satellite images could identify ... read more

Historically Robust Natural Ecosystems Could Collapse Due to Climate Change, Human Activity

Aug. 11, 2016 — Global change will strike the oldest and most complex ecosystems of the world hardest, regardless of their past stability, warn experts in a new ... read more

Managing Climate Change Refugia to Protect Wildlife

Aug. 10, 2016 — Natural and cultural areas that will remain similar to what they are today -- despite climate change -- need to be identified, managed and conserved as 'refugia' for at-risk species, ... read more

Adding Milk, Meat to Diet Dramatically Improves Nutrition for Poor in Zambia

Aug. 10, 2016 — Adding livestock to poor households in developing countries such as Zambia is shown to improve their financial status, but how the addition of milk and meat to their diet effects their nutrition has ... read more

Cities Face Dramatic Increase in Water Treatment Spending When Watersheds Are Developed

July 25, 2016 — A new global study has found that one in three large cities spend 50 percent more on water treatment costs as a result of damage to the ecological quality of their ... read more

Climate Disasters Increase Risk of Armed Conflict in Multi-Ethnic Countries

July 25, 2016 — Climate disasters like heat-waves or droughts enhance the risk of armed conflicts in countries with high ethnic diversity, scientists found. They used a novel statistical approach to analyze data ... read more

Poor African-American Men Have Lowest Likelihood of Overall Survival

July 18, 2016 — African-American men living below poverty had the lowest overall survival in a study that examined the effects of sex, race and socioeconomic status on overall mortality, according to an ... read more

Global Experts Call on UN to Mobilize a Global Action Plan to Widen Access to Antibiotics

July 15, 2016 — Today some of the world's experts on antibiotic resistance called on the UN to act to reduce the growing number of deaths due to limited access to effective ... read more

Tuesday, November 1, 2016