Sometimes humans invent things, seemingly benign things, that end up having profound and unpredictable effects. The invention of plastic must have been a marvel in the early 20th century. Entrepreneurs…
Indonesia has robust laws meant to ensure communities can easily obtain information about pollutants in their water. But in practice, the right to information is impeded at every turn. “Without…
We know very little about the deepest parts of the ocean – and are disturbing them faster than we’re learning about them, according a study published this week in Molecular…
As Indonesian authorities move to strip thousands of mining licenses from firms that have failed to meet legal requirements, some companies are fighting back in the courts. Claiming that local…
After laying a 700-meter plastic-tar road at a university campus in Bali, Indonesian officials announced plans to use the material on roads in Jakarta and other cities.
Last week, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the largest-ever recorded low-oxygen "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. At 22,730 square kilometers (8,776 square miles)…
The United States Forest Service is about to release a huge new database chronicling the abundance and diversity of lichens across the country. Why lichens? Because these amalgamations of fungi…
An Indonesian court has ordered the revocation of the environmental permit for the Cirebon 2 coal-fired power plant. The project aims to build a 1,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant next to…
XI’AN, China — On bad air days, Cao Yiyang doesn't take his 3-month-old daughter out for a stroll. It's too dangerous. Staying inside, near the air purifier he recently bought,…
British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto was for 45 years the majority-owner of the Panguna copper mine in Bougainville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea (PNG). But now it has…
In the months following the overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013, the biggest, most public cabinet-level political battle in Egypt wasn't about terrorism, human rights or the…
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a global campaign last month aimed at eliminating two of the chief sources of ocean trash by 2022: microplastics frequently used in cosmetics…
Around 2,000 people from across the Indonesian archipelago gathered in Jakarta last week to call for investigations into cases of alleged corruption in the coal and mineral industry. Demonstrators visited…
CAJAMARCA, Colombia – Residents of a town in central Colombia sent a clear message on Sunday to the powers that be that they don’t want a large-scale mining operation in their…
Scientists have discovered the first entirely cave-dwelling armored catfish of the Callichthyidae family in South America. But big human pressures around its restricted habitat mean it may already be highly…
DHANBAD, India -- In the heart of India's coal capital of Dhanbad lies one of the country's oldest mines: the Jharia coalfields, endowed with India's sole reserves of prime coking…
Nitrogen pollution can alter the way temperate forests function, a new study has found. Excess nitrogen from air pollution slows down decomposition of plant matter by soil fungi, which in turn…
The Indonesian archipelago is home to a myriad of plants and animals, including Sumatran tigers, birds of paradise, orangutans and leatherback turtles. It is also home to extensive mineral resources…
During 74 days in late 2009, a leak in the Montara offshore drilling platform gushed tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea, a body of water…
Indonesia’s coal industry is trying to grow in a hostile climate. As the world moves to cut carbon emissions following the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the global coal industry is…
