Science & Technology Archives - The World from PRX

It only took just over a decade for the world to add 1 billion more people. To break down what this growth means for societies around the globe, The World's host Carol Hills speaks to demographer and author Jennifer Sciubba.

A family in one of the hardest-hit regions of Pakistan's Sindh province were forced to live on the roof of a school for two months while they waited for floodwaters that destroyed their home to recede. They are directly seeing the damaging climate change effects being discussed by world leaders at the COP27 summit.

The closure of Oaxaca’s trash dump in October is wreaking havoc on the environment. As world leaders gather for the COP27 climate conference, Oaxaca’s trash problems indicate just how complicated climate protection can be at the local level.

Miami progressives are trying to break the Republican grip on the state’s Latino voters by making cultural connections to Cubans in the US.

Some 59,000 tons of unwanted clothing arrive in Chile each year from places like Europe, Asia and the United States. But because it is illegal to dump them in landfills, they often end up in places like the Atacama Desert in the north of the country, where they harm the environment.

Parts of the Atacama Desert have turned into a blooming carpet of flowers — an incredible sight that only happens a couple of times every decade. To protect the phenomenon, Chile's president has announced the creation of a new national park.

Climate change and increased cattle farming have created intense pressure on Kyrgyzstan’s walnut forest — the largest one on Earth. A new app helps herders to better monitor and manage their pastures in an effort to protect the walnut forests.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has promised to continue facilitating mining and agro industry in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon if he wins another four-year term. But destruction of the Amazon affects the air quality and jeopardizes the water supply in neighboring countries.

Latvia's government is capping the heat in health facilities and other buildings to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit in an attempt to keep some heat flowing during the cold winter months while lessening its dependency on Russian energy.

A recent study concludes that 1 in 6 US tree species are at risk of extinction, largely due to pests and disease.