Climate Change

In the Indian tech hub of Bengaluru, water has become a precious commodity. One initiative leverages an age-old, well-digging technique to help residents tap into a forgotten source. 

Record-setting wildfires are raging in the Pantanal region in Brazil. In a densely vegetated rural area the size of England, it can be hard for firefighters to find and reach the blazes to combat them. That’s why one nonprofit is training local fighters to use drones to pinpoint the exact location and size of fires, and scope out roads to reach them. 

In Brazil, it’s the Day of the Baleia Franca, or Right Whale. It’s one of the largest whale species on the planet. They grow to about 60 feet or one and a half times the size of a school bus. It’s also endangered. But conservation efforts are having an impact.

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.

Sri Lanka’s civil war ended 15 years ago, but for many, the trauma of decades of fighting hasn’t been adequately addressed. And now, climate change poses new risks, and some observers say people who acquired a disability during the conflict are most vulnerable.