Leila Goldstein

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.

The majority of deaths from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were in Indonesia. But the island of Simeulue was largely spared. Researchers say this was partly due to folklore passed down through the generations that residents are now trying to keep alive.

Two decades after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia, some survivors are rebuilding their lives in the same location, while others are too traumatized to return.

Cambodia lost more than a third of its primary forests to private development in the last two decades. But a movement of young activists have challenged the government to improve its record on the environment. Now, the government is cracking down and arresting activists.  

Companies around the world try to make up for their carbon emission by purchasing “offsets,” financing projects intended to preserve forests or otherwise compensate for their emissions. In Cambodia, Human Rights Watch recently issued a report about violations against Indigenous people in a carbon offset program in the Cardamom mountains.