From the Everglades to Kilimanjaro, Climate Change is Destroying World Wonders
Photo credits (clockwise) from Flickr: Aaron, Adam, Milan Boers, Gene Wilburn
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From the Everglades in the US to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, climate change is destroying many of the greatest wonders of the natural world. A new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reveals that the number of natural world heritage sites being damaged and at risk from global warming has almost doubled to 62 in the past three years. Here's what's being affected the most - |
“[The] destruction [of natural world heritage sites] can...have devastating consequences that go beyond their exceptional beauty and natural value. In Peru’s Huascarán national park, for example, melting glaciers affect [people’s] water supplies.”
-- Tim Badman, director of IUCN’s World Heritage Programme
Flickr/Birger Hoppe
Bhutan: The World's Only Carbon-Negative CountryBhutan is arguably the world’s happiest country. It’s also one of the greenest. The Himalayan kingdom is not only carbon neutral, but carbon negative - even despite increasing tourism.
Here's how they do it. |
Flickr/Bandita
What Does the Environment Have to Do with Diseases that Affect the Immune System?In 1932, doctors in North America and Europe first began to see patients with a new cluster of symptoms that they eventually classified as irritable bowel syndrome.
Other conditions, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, have now become more common. They all share one thing: a malfunctioning immune system. Here's why some doctors think the environment is triggering these immune-related diseases. |
“If you look at the past 100 years, you see a huge explosion of diseases that haven’t been seen at any other time in human history.”
--Gil Kaplan, gastroenterologist, University of Calgary
From "What Does the Environment Have to Do with Diseases that Affect the Immune System?"
Flickr/Toshihiro Gamo
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Flickr/Prince Roy
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Though the Japanese may not discuss mental health as Westerners do, they are still concerned about it.
The Center for Urban Design and Mental Health, founded in 2015, recommends that cities incorporate four main themes into urban design to support mental health: green spaces, active spaces, social spaces, and safe spaces. Here's how the design of Tokyo's urban spaces is helping to reduce stress and improve pollution. And Hong Kong, Montreal, and Wroclaw, Poland, may follow suit... |
Hundreds of millions of people in China have in recent years turned to religions like Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, seeking a sense of purpose and an escape from China’s consumerist culture.
Now the nation’s religious revival is helping fuel an environmental awakening. |