The state of the world’s environment is one of the most important stories of the new century. Debates over the impact of climate change reverberate throughout the globe. So do disputes about what actions might be necessary, both to preserve the environment and to develop sources of energy for a growing global community.
The World’s environment coverage, led by environment editor Peter Thomson, examines the health of the planet and explores the impacts of human activity on everything from the earth’s ecosystems to the food we put on our plates.
Environment
China looks to renewables to soften coal growth
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In part three of her series on China’s coal habit, The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports on the country’s efforts to slowly wean itself off coal with big investments in renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Download MP3China’s coal habit series page
Qatar beats US for 2022 World Cup
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with The World’s William Troop about the other winners in today’s World Cup selections: Qatar was chosen to host in 2022. It’s the first time a Middle Eastern country has been selected to host soccer’s top tournament. But the choice has also raised questions about everything from infrastructure to Qatar’s brutal July heat.
Download MP3
China’s search for cleaner coal
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports on China’s efforts to develope so-called “cleaner coal” technologies. Burning coal causes huge problems in China and a large part of the world’s greenhouse pollution. But it’s likely to remain the country’s main energy source for decades. In part two of her series, Mary Kay Magistad looks at China’s efforts to develop so-called “cleaner coal” technologies.Download MP3
Reporter’s notebook: China’s coal future
China’s coal habit series page
China’s coal habit
China’s booming economy is powered mostly by coal. And the explosive growth in coal pollution is causing major problems both within China and for the planet. In a special four-part series on The World, Asia correspondent Mary Kay Magistad examines the impacts and some possible solutions to China’s addiction to dirty coal.
Download the entire series as a podcast:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download MP3The cost of coal in China
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Representatives for nearly 200 countries have gathered in Mexico to discuss ways to cut greenhouse gas pollution. One of the largest sources of this pollution is coal. Coal use continues to rise around the world, especially in China. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad explores the high cost of China’s appetite for coal. Download MP3Read Mary Kay’s journal about her visit to a coal mine
Mali helps Libya with leased farmland
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Mali has leased tens of thousands of acres to Libya so Libya can feed its people.But Malian farmers say they’re being squeezed out of their own land.Correspondent Kati Whitaker reports from Mali. Download MP3
Land deals of wealthy nations
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Ruth Meinzen-Dick, a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, about the downside of land deals between countries. Wealthy countries are increasingly snapping up farmland in poorer nations, but more needs to be done to insure the lands deals are done in a responsible way. Download MP3
A glimmer of hope for Atlantic cod?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The World’s Jeb Sharp reports on the status of the once-famous Atlantic cod fishery off eastern Canada. Fishing for cod there was banned nearly 20 years ago after stocks collapsed. Now there are glimmers of evidence that the fish may be returning. Download MP3 (Photo: Hans-Petter Fjeld)Audio slideshow: tagging fish
Science Forum: Global fisheries decline
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
According to a new WWF report, seventy percent of commercial marine fisheries are on the decline. Rashid Sumaila directs the Fisheries Center the the University of British Columbia. He tells us about the problems facing the global fisheries industry, and what consumers can do to encourage sustainable fishing practices. Dr. Sumaila is also the guest in our online Science Forum. Join the conversation. Download MP3
A new focus for safari tourism
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Safari tourism in Africa is changing. Tracking down big game is still central, but more and more tourists are also involved with conservation and helping local communities. Correspondent Jake Warga reports. Download MP3Saving owls
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Today’s Geo Quiz is about owls: the country we want you to name is home to some 30 species of owl. Some owls are used by practitioners of sorcery, or “black magic” but the country’s environment minister has identified another problem. He’s blaming fans of Harry Potter for fueling the illegal trade. Download MP3Environmental art in Iceland
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
For the Geo Quiz, we head for the southern-most village in Iceland. This quaint Icelandic village is 100 miles or so south-east of the capital Reykjavik. About 300 people live there and this outpost at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean is one of several far-flung settings for an environmental art project called 350 Earth.Download MP3
Simon Winchester’s Atlantic book
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Lisa Mullins talks with author Simon Winchester about his new book, “Atlantic: Great Seat Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories”. Download MP3On The World: Simon Winchester’s Atlantic World
‘Bird-friendly’ coffee
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A recent study found that 13 percent of the world’s birds are either threatened or endangered. The problem has many causes, but one of them is – well – coffee. That’s right, your morning cup of joe may be harming songbirds, but as Diane Toomey reports, there are efforts afoot to change that. Download MP3Audio Extra: Listen to what the birds sound like
How consumers affect migratory birds
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with ornithologist Bridget Stutchbury about the problems confronting migratory birds and the role consumers play in harming or helping them. Download MP3
Additional funding for PRI's The World is provided by:
