People & Population

"A new report says an estimated 43,000 people died amid Somalia’s longest drought on record last year and half of them likely were children under 5 years old."

"As the details of the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory unfold amid action to remove illegal miners, mercury left by the rampant gold mining in the area will remain a lingering toxic legacy."

"Tickborne disease has been on the rise in the US, with the number of cases growing 25% from 2011 to 2019. Among them is babesiosis, which has become significantly more prevalent in the Northeast in recent years."

"Interior Secretary Deb Haaland late Tuesday revoked a Trump-era land swap that would have paved the way for a road to be built through Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge."

"After years of environmental assault — from dam building, overfishing, and logging — stretches of the Mekong River, upon which millions of people depend, appear to be recovering. Heavy rains have helped, along with a crackdown on illegal fishing and other conservation efforts."

"Accidents that result in the release of hazardous materials are rare, but when trains do crash, the consequences can be serious. Most of the recent ones that caused evacuations have happened near small communities, NPR found. Local firefighters who respond are uniquely vulnerable to the effects. But across the country, they are often under-prepared to handle the chemicals when they come off the tracks."

"The intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren’t merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage, even humanitarian crises and conflict."

"A drizzle fell Wednesday morning in Takotna, where more than a dozen Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race teams were bedded down for their 24-hour rests."

"Tropical Storm Freddy is due to hit the coast of Southern Africa again on Saturday after killing at least 21 people in Mozambique and Madagascar when it first made landfall last month."

"In The Great Displacement, Jake Bittle follows families displaced by flooding, drought and other disasters as the “next American migration” begins in earnest."