Environment and natural resources

GT investigates: Who are the mouthpieces of US-led war of public opinion on “Chinese dams’ threats” along Mekong River, and what are their typical methods?

US’ politicization of ecological water issues in the Mekong River for the purpose of tarnishing China’s reputation via launching rhetoric battles has become more trendy. The Stimson Center, a US-backed think tank, again bashed China in February for allegedly “holding a massive amount of water” ...

Hu Yuwei and Zhao Juecheng

Thai tourism elephants are ‘far better off’ in forests: Q&A with photographer Adam Oswell

An Asian elephant supports itself on one leg, completely submerged in garish electric-blue water, while a keeper tugs painfully at its ear. The photograph shows bubbles rising from its trunk as it offers a stick of sugarcane toward a crowd of onlookers on the other ...

Carolyn Cowan

How hydropower dams impact the communities they're built in

Over the last two decades, almost 1,000 hydropower dams have been built around the globe. And while these dams provide many benefits to farmers, wildlife and the climate, the costs of their construction on local communities where they are built has largely been left out ...

Liz Schondelmayer, Michigan State University

High-tech cleanup on the way for Mekong, Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh

The Ministry of Tourism and two NGOs – Everwave and River and Ocean Cleanup – plan to launch a campaign to clean up the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh by collecting rubbish from the water and along the river banks. ...

Opinion: A Convention Could Lock In China’s Mekong Cooperation

The success and survival of the Mekong River rests with China: the largest, wealthiest state in the region, positioned in the strategically important upstream. As the Mekong enters its fourth year of drought, certainty about China’s cooperation is no longer desirable — it is essential. No ...

Kenneth Stiller

Developing a Freshwater Health Index: Encompassing Earth Data, Community Concerns, and Climate Change

Earth’s climate is changing, and one of the main impacts is on the water cycle. For example, there is an elevated risk of more frequent and intense flooding and droughts. Also, the amount of water flowing in individual streams and rivers is changing, and those ...

Earth Science Communications Team at NASA

Japan funds environmental awareness, child protection programmes

The Japanese government has provided more than $800,000 in funding to two Japanese NGOs, under its grant assistance framework. The NGOs are engaged in raising awareness of environment issues and eliminating violence against children in schools. The grant contract was signed on March 12 by Japanese ...

Ry Sochan

Myanmar Timber Exports Continue, Despite Western Sanctions: Report

Myanmar’s military junta exported more than $37 million worth of timber to nations with active sanctions on the country’s state-run timber monopoly, according to the environmental advocacy group Forest Trends. In a report released yesterday, the U.S.-based organization examined the impact of sanctions imposed since the ...

Sebastian Strangio

Hydropower Dams Have Had ‘Profound’ Impact on Mekong River, Monitor Claims

Hydropower projects, including a spree of mega-dams in China, have had a significant impact on the midstream reaches of the Mekong River, exacerbating drought conditions and altering the river’s flow in fundamental ways, according to a group of U.S.-based researchers. The finding was contained in a report assessing ...

Sebastian Strangio

Baby dolphin born in Mekong’s Koh Phdao

The team researching the Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphins has spotted a newborn baby in Kratie province’s Sambor district, according to the Fisheries Administration’s Department of Fisheries Conservation. The department reported on March 7 that the calf was spotted by the research team and World Wide Fund ...

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