This week, we go to the Swat Valley in Pakistan to hear how a group of ICT emergency responders are helping UN workers deliver vital aid to those in need. Also, Iran’s presidential election goes online, and President Obama announces a major push to improve America’s cybersecurity. We’ll also talk about using bananas as a low-tech fuel source. Listen
Jason Margolis assumes command of the podcast this week. We take you north to Canada to hear about an effort to “green” a million wartime-era homes. Then, we offer a global assessment of the new fuel efficiency standards announced by the Obama Administration. Listen
National parks around the world provide important refuge for people and wildlife. They’re places where humans can reconnect with the natural world and where animals are protected from human encroachment. But parks rarely provide enough habitat to ensure the survival of an entire species. This is especially true of large predators like jaguars. Jaguars are the biggest cats in the all of the Americas. And in Central America, scientists are trying to protect Jaguars by finding and protecting the corridors that the cats use as they roam from park to park. Julia Kumari Drapkin reports from Panama.
In the fight to curb global warming, we’re often encouraged to drive less or use more fuel efficient cars. Well, it turns out that cars aren’t the biggest source of greenhouse gases. Buildings are responsible for roughly half of the total greenhouse gas emissions around the world. There’s a group of architects that’d like to change that. They call themselves ‘Architecture 2030′. Their goal is to make buildings that use no fossil fuels by the year 2030. The World’s Jason Margolis has our story.
In Tehran, more and more Iranians are buying more and more cars… with predictable results — congestion and smog. Correspondent Steve Zind reports that air pollution in the Iranian capital is causing health problems for citizens and headaches for city officials.
Correspondent Julia Kumari Drapkin reports from Panama on the debate over the conservation importance of tropical forest that are growing back after being cut. View the audio slideshow
China is building twenty new cities a year and has been, for two decades. But the massive urbanization is taking its toll on China’s environment – and on many of its people who have been pouring into the mega-cities from China’s countryside. The United States went through a similar transformation in the 19th century. But in China, it’s happening faster and on a much larger scale. It’s a massive migration which shows no signs of stopping as Mary Kay Magistad reports in her six-part series.
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