World Donkey Day 2024: Overtourism, feral dogs, conflict with herders & unplanned development threats for Ladakh’s kiang

Down To Earth speaks to Tsewang Namgail from the Snow Leopard Conservancy about the rare and iconic Tibetan wild ass  

Annual investments of $260 billion required to halve agrifood emissions by 2030, achieve Net Zero by 2050: World Bank

New report claims twice the amount spend on agricultural subsidies; suggests India replace diesel irrigation pumps with solar

Venus is losing water faster than previously thought — here’s what that could mean for the early planet’s habitability

Figuring out how, when and why Venus lost its water helps planetary scientists understand what makes a planet habitable

Siberia burning again; state of emergency declared in Irkutsk’s Bratsk district, Jewish Oblast & Khabarovsk Krai

Heatwave in 2020 caused ‘world’s coldest inhabited place’ to boil at 38°C; subsequent wildfires increased emissions …

Around 52 million people in west, central Africa will face severe food stress from June-August: IRC

More than 2,500 people to face catastrophic, famine-like conditions if no urgent action is taken, organisation warns

Gaza Strip: UN warns of increased death & despair as Israel intensifies attack on Rafah

UN Women survey finds 93% women report feelings of insecurity even within their own homes

DTE Coverage: Cyclone Hidaya

Down To Earth tracked the cyclone as it formed in the sea and finally made landfall in Tanzania

Free and fearless journalism in a fight for survival

Freedom of the press, a cornerstone of democracy, is under attack around the world, just when we need it more than ever

DTE Coverage: Dam burst in Kenya

A dam in the village of Kamuchiri in southern Kenya burst on April 29, killing 45 people

Americas: Yet another country in Western Hemisphere turns right as Panama elects Jose Mulino as president

Mulino joins Argentina’s Javier Milei & El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele even as Donald Trump & Jair Bolsonaro hope to return to power

Digital democracies and the challenges of Anthropocene

Only sustained human intervention can effectively mitigate challenges to daily human life

Waste pickers play a key role in the fight against plastic pollution — insights from South Africa into how their voices can be heard

South Africa’s approach to waste picker integration demonstrates how they can be protected

DTE Coverage: Ottawa talks as they happened

Read our reportage of the fourth round of negotiations for a global plastic treaty in Ottawa, Canada

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, escapes major damage as Cyclone Hidaya makes landfall on Mafia Island near it

No further threat of Cyclone Hidaya in Tanzania, says government; Kenya bans beach activities, fishing and swimming in coastal counties till May …

Cyclone Hidaya to slam into Tanzania south of Dar es Salaam; Ruto puts Kenya on alert

Kenya lies within Latitude 4° North and South hence it is safe from tropical cyclones; but Ruto says this will change

East and West: Extreme weather strikes on opposite sides of globe in Brazil, Texas, Vietnam & Indonesia

75 dead in Brazil floods; evacuations in flood-hit Houston; heat dries up Vietnam while 14 die in Indonesia due to floods and landslides  

Feeding off each other

Vegetarian movements in South Asia and the West grew with mutual support and validation

Hidaya has made landfall as per Kenya Met Department; but another depression is developing behind it

Mtwara, a coastal city in Tanzania, receives 140% of its average May rainfall in 12 hours  

Simply Put: Maus

Overlooked crisis

While there is much talk about climate migration, the world is without a legal framework to protect people displaced by weather disasters 

World Press Freedom Day 2024: 44 environmental journalists have been murdered in last 15 years, UN report finds

Environmental reporting has become perilous; journalists faced 50 attacks a year between 2009 and 2023 in all regions of the world on average

Non-human ‘doctor’: In a first, male Sumatran orangutan ‘Rakus’ recorded using medicinal plant to heal his wound

Finding shows medical wound treatment may have possibly arisen in a common ancestor shared by humans and great apes

New economy, old habits

What will be the business model that we take to the promised green economy?

Reptiles in South Africa are under threat — but there’s good news too

Many species of threatened reptiles are inadequately conserved in formally protected areas

Climbers have turned Mount Everest into a high-altitude garbage dump, but sustainable solutions are within reach

Modern technology and international cooperation are key to ending the pileup of waste in this iconic setting