Climate Change
New project seeks to solve housing crisis using mushroom byproduct and troublesome weed
In Namibia, MycoHAB is hoping to solve two issues for the price of one: make use of a pesky plant known as the encroacher bush and deal with the country’s housing crisis. By harvesting the water-intensive weeds that encroach on farmland and combining them with a mushroom byproduct known as mycelium, MycoHAB founder and architect Chris Maurer creates bricks to build homes. The World’s Carolyn Beeler spoke to Maurer to learn more.
A city in southern Brazil is forced to adapt after floods shut down a major airport
Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state, has had to adapt after the metropolitan area of roughly 4.5 million people lost its only international airport. A month ago, unprecedented flooding sank major parts of the city. The rains have continued and the city’s airport is still underwater. So, officials have gotten creative.
How do you save a vanishing lake? Kazakhstan has a plan.
Lakes all over the world — like the Aral Sea in Central Asia — are receding because of climate change and dwindling water resources. But Kazakhstan managed to save part of the Aral Sea. The successes and shortcomings of the achievement can provide lessons for other lakeside communities.
Floodwaters in southern Brazil remain a threat
Large parts of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil are still waterlogged three weeks after heavy rains flooded the state. Local and federal governments have promised to rebuild homes and businesses. But people are still digging out and, as Michael Fox reports, more rain is in the forecast.
Capitalists Anonymous: Weary French seek help in buying and polluting less
There are many addiction support groups out there — from alcohol and drugs to pornography. In France, there’s one called Capitalists Anonymous, for people who can’t stop buying stuff or worry that their daily actions, like commuting in gas-guzzling cars, are hurting the planet.
Scientists study why some of Central Asia’s glaciers are resilient to climate change
Scientists are racing to learn why some glaciers in a remote part of Central Asia’s mountains seem unaffected by climate change. Their efforts are bolstered by new strategies they’re developing to better understand how climate change will impact the world’s water resources.