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The notion of arid lands as ‘wastelands’ derives largely from colonial assumptions — assumptions that continue to harm the world’s drylands and impact the lives of millions of people. Our most common conception of deserts and arid lands is that they are ruined wastelands with little value, aberrations that need to be repaired and improved. Up to 70 percent of global arid and semiarid lands are…

Desertification in the Sahel region of Africa is advancing quickly. A novel solution that involves planting thousands of trees may help protect the area’s environment and the livelihoods of locals. Climate change is a huge problem, and it will require an equally large solution – multiple solutions, in fact. In Africa, one such idea involves planting a wall of trees, 8,000km long and 15km…

Accelerating clean energy development is critical—here’s how we do it the right way. We are at the beginning of an enormous global buildout of clean energy infrastructure. This is good news for climate mitigation—we need at least a nine-fold increase in renewable energy production to meet the Paris Agreement goals. But this buildout must be done fast and smart. …

Duststorms have increased dramatically in frequency in Iraq in recent years, driven by soil degradation and intense droughts made worse by climate change, with rising average temperatures and sharply lower rainfall. Residents of six of Iraq's 18 provinces, including Baghdad and the vast western region of Al-Anbar, awoke once again to a thick cloud of dust blanketing the sky. …

Facts and figures Did you know? Fresh water is a valuable resource that we should take care of, especially now, as it becomes more and more scarce. For you to learn more about the current state of the water resources, their use and management worldwide, we found and listed below some interesting facts concerning this topic. Water and Climate Change: …

Floods, droughts and heat waves herald a changing climate. # The current global population is around 7.8 billion. By 2030 it will be around 8.5 billion. Everyone will experience the effects of climate change. But the effects will not be felt equally. # From 2010 to 2019 more than 1.3 billion people were affected seriously enough by extreme weather events such as floods,…