Environment

The Tijuana River watershed straddles both sides of the US-Mexico border. For decades, economic policies have promoted industrial expansion on the border, impacting residential communities in both countries.

In 2017, Cape Town nearly became the world’s first major city to essentially run out of municipal water. Although this was eventually avoided, water woes continue to plague South Africa and have been worsened by climate change. Now, the main economic hub, Johannesburg, is facing its own crisis, with outages becoming part of daily life.

Rising sea levels are a threat to coastal regions everywhere, but especially for islands. No example stands out more than the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu.

Over the weekend, residents of Brisbane, Australia, were bracing for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The storm was downgraded to a tropical low, and made landfall on the mainland on Saturday. It was the first storm of its kind in the area in 51 years. The city is further south of where tropical cyclones typically hit, and scientists say climate change is playing a role in increasing extreme weather events around the world.

Our partners at Deutsche Welle took a walking tour of the problem of light pollution in Cologne, Germany, for the “Living Planet” program with journalist Kathleen Schuster.