Sustain Our Earth

Defining resilience goes a long way to understanding what to put under the umbrella of climate resiliency. 

WRI‘s new issue brief surveys the progress and challenges China faces in regulating the environmental and social impacts of its overseas investments. I sat down with WRI senior associate and China expert, Hu Tao, to talk about China’s overseas investment landscape. Before joining WRI, Tao worked as a senior environmental economist with China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). Here’s what he had to say:

Where does concrete come from? The material has become such a pervasive symbol of human alienation from nature that it's tempting to assume it's just another brutish product of the ...

Forecast global temperature rise of 4C a calamity for large swaths of planet even if predicted extremes are not reached

A vote over fluoridated water has prompted something of an existential crisis in this left-leaning city. Weighing in: Indie rockers, craft-beer brewers and organic-food purveyors.

WATFORD CITY, North Dakota (Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for...

Beach nourishment projects will restore shorelines but require expensive upkeep and affect ecosystems; federal taxpayers will foot the bill.

Hong Kong (AFP) May 18, 2013 - Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city's high levels of roadside pollution.

Brussels (AFP) May 19, 2013 - The latest tit-for-tat EU-China trade disputes could signal worse to come but both sides have a lot to lose if things get out of hand and harm the much-needed economic growth they seek, analysts said.

We’ve all heard that it’s good to drink orange juice and eat chicken noodle soup when we’re sick, but did you know there are plenty of other foods you can eat to help treat minor ailments like colds, seasonal allergies, upset stomachs and sore throats?

It turns out many items you already have in your kitchen can help relieve symptoms of common illnesses and even some chronic health problems. Click through to find out how you can put your kitchen to work for your health.

More than 32 million people fled their homes last year because of disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes

The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), one of the world’s largest dedicated funding facilities for climate change mitigation/adaptation projects, have now been in operation for five years. It’s a good time to step back and evaluate what lessons we’re learning from these important sources of climate finance.

A large, violent tornado has carved a long, destructive path on the south side of Oklahoma City.

As China absorbs the news that quite a bit of its rice contains too much of the toxic metal cadmium, the state-run media are advising people to diversify the geographical sources of their food, to reduce risk.

Residents of Manhattan will not just sweat harder from rising temperatures in the future, says a new study; many may die. 

Researchers at Columbia University estimate deaths linked to warming climate may rise some 20 percent by the 2020s, and, in some worst-case scenarios, 90 percent or more 70 years hence. 

Higher winter temperatures may partially offset heat-related deaths by cutting cold-related mortality, but even so, scientists say annual net temperature-related deaths might go up a third.

KSN-TV employees and meteorologists took shelter from a tornado Sunday while continuing to broadcast from a safe place.

Parts of the vast High Plains Aquifer, once a prodigious source of water, are now so low that crops can’t be watered and bridges span arid stream beds.

Wang Fuguo, a 63-year-old cotton farmer, does not know when his ancestors began tilling the land in the dusty village of Weijie. But he is fairly sure he will be the last of his family to do so.

A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in the United States, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Washington (AFP) May 17, 2013 - Apple and US lawmakers are gearing up for a showdown over taxes - specifically how to deal with the huge stockpile of cash held by Apple and other multinational firms offshore.

Beijing (AFP) May 18, 2013 - China will not pay for CO2 emissions by its airlines on flights within Europe, a top civil aviation official reportedly said after the European Commission warned eight Chinese firms face fines for nonpayment.