Farming, Forests, Water & Fishing (No Petroleum Added)

A marvel of nature, the lakes of Ounianga in the Sahara Desert have lasted thousands of years and withstood dramatic climate change. Now, a German geologist has analyzed lakebed sediments to shed light on a spectacular chapter in human history.

Google has released some stunning time-lapse images of our changing planet, highlighting some of the most startling impacts made by humans.

Local control has improved woodlands, cut carbon emissions and created economic benefits

KATHMANDU (AlertNet) - When Reshma Kunda talks about the land surrounding her village, her voice is full of reverence.

“Our mountains and forests are like our gods. They give us grass, wood for fuel, water, medicines and food - everything we need for our lives,” says the farmer who lives in Godavari Kunda village, about 15 km (10 miles) southeast of the Kathmandu valley.  “In return, we owe them protection (and must) keep them safe for future generations.”

Other residents of Godavari Kunda agree. They are part of a movement that has seen local communities across Nepal take charge of forest management - conserving and restoring woodland to mitigate the effects of climate change. At the same time, they are receiving sustainable economic benefits.

Today, a quarter of Nepal’s forests are managed by nearly 20,000 community forest user groups (CFUGs), the first of which were established by non-governmental organisations in the 1980s.

Farmers on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius have pumped the ground full of chemical fertilizers. In an effort to rescue the soil, the government is offering subsidies on organic compost.

This is part one of a two-part series on the limits of human growth and prosperity on planet Earth. Both parts are based on Ramez Naam’s new book, The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet

Is the world doomed? Are we headed for a dystopian future, where billions of people live in poverty on a wrecked, overcrowded planet? Or an even worse world where climate change has wrecked the planet, crashing human populations?

Or is the future going to be a better place than today, one where all of our problems have been solved, and people live in peace and prosperity?

The world is facing incredibly serious natural resource and environmental challenges, to be sure: Climate change, fresh water depletion, ocean over-fishing, deforestation, air and water pollution, the struggle to feed a planet of billions.

All of these challenges are exacerbated by ever rising demand – over the next 40 years estimates are that demand for fresh water will rise 50%, demand for food will rise 70%, and demand for energy will nearly double – all in the same period that we need to tackle climate change, depletion of rivers and aquifers, and deforestation.

After being released into the wild in Germany just last month, a herd of wisents has welcomed its first calf. The first European bison to be born free in Germany in centuries has been named "Quintus," and appears to be healthy.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is rapidly losing its coral, to the point that UNESCO may soon place the natural wonder on its "in danger" list. Climate change is one culprit, but so is the country's booming extraction industry.

After the careful removal of two large dams, salmon are returning to Washington's Elwha River.

As the last block of concrete was pulled from the riverbed, the Elwha River in the Olympic Mountains of Washington State flowed freely for the first time in over 100 years. The river was historically one of the most productive salmon streams for its size in the Pacific Northwest. Four hundred thousand salmon once swam its length each year but, in the century since the dam’s construction, that number had fallen to a few thousand.1 Within months of the dam’s removal, nature has rushed back: over 200 salmon have already returned. The prospect of a river teeming with silverbacked salmon weighing over 45 kilograms each may no longer remain a hazy memory of local Native American tribes.

Every fall at Maine's Common Ground Country Fair, the Lollapalooza of sustainable agriculture, John Bunker sets out a display of eccentric apples.

From Becky Oskin, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer: With many of the world's ecosystems threatened or endangered by human activities like logging and urbanization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published its criteria for a...

Quartz: Forget the plight of the polar bear for a moment and consider the coming collapse of the $30 billion honey bee economy in the US.

Greeks Fight Canadian Gold-Diggers - Any sense of tranquility that hangs around the mountain of Skouries in northern Greece, 80 km east of Greece’s second largest city Thessaloniki, is a façade.

EDMONTON - A group representing Canadian retailers says eight of Canada's largest supermarket chains have signed on with a push to eliminate factory-farming pens that restrict the movement of pregnant pigs.The Retail Council of Canada says Walmart...

Scientists monitoring global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations report that, for the first time in human history, CO2 levels could soon rise above 400 parts per million for a sustained period of time in much of the Northern Hemisphere.