InformedInsights

Get Informed, Stay Inspired

Science & Health

Development, pollution threaten Papuan women’s mangrove forest in Indonesia

JAYAPURA, Indonesia —  On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests. Merauje and the women…

Small but mighty efforts are brewing to bring back native forests in India

UDHAGAMANDALAM, India —  Scattered groves of native trees, flowers and the occasional prehistoric burial ground are squeezed between hundreds of thousands of tea shrubs in southern India’s Nilgiris region — a gateway to a time before colonization and the commercial…

As fast fashion’s waste pollutes environment, Ghana designers find a solution

ACCRA, Ghana —  In a sprawling secondhand clothing market in Ghana’s capital, early morning shoppers jostle as they search through piles of garments, eager to pluck a bargain or a designer find from the stalls selling used and low-quality apparel…

People on breathing machines struggle without power after weather disasters

HOUSTON —  Kimberly Rubit had one priority in mind as Hurricane Beryl ripped through Houston this summer: her severely disabled daughter. The 63-year-old worked nonstop to prevent Mary, 42, from overheating without air conditioning, water or lights after Beryl knocked…

$300B climate change deal sparks hope in some, outrage in others

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN —  United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against climate change, aimed at helping poor nations cope with the ravages of global warming in tense negotiations in the…

Rich nations raise COP29 climate finance offer in bid to break deadlock

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN —  Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to $300 billion a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts…

At UN climate talks, ‘sewage’ beer from Singapore highlights water scarcity and innovations

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN —  In the sprawling pavilion section of the United Nations climate talks, where countries, nonprofits and tech companies use big, flashy signs to get the attention of the thousands of people walking through, small aqua and purple beverage…

Mpox still a health emergency, says WHO

london —  The mpox outbreak continues to represent a public health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Friday. The WHO first declared the emergency in August, when an outbreak of a new form of mpox spread from the badly…

COP29 climate summit enters overtime as $250 billion deal stalls

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN —  The COP29 climate summit ran into overtime on Friday after a draft deal that proposed developed nations take the lead in providing $250 billion per year by 2035 to help poorer nations drew criticism from all sides….

Kabul residents queue up for hours to collect water

Kabul residents are struggling with severe water shortages, often waiting hours at the Afghan capital’s dwindling wells for drinking water. The United Nations cautions that urbanization and climate change could deplete the city’s groundwater within the next five to six…