Unesco-Designated World Heritage Coast At Risk

A “major development” along Unesco-designated Dorset cove, could jeopardise the distinctive nature and feel of one of the gems of the British coastline, the residents and experts have warned.

Effects of Climate change will be felt more deeply in decades ahead

A federal advisory panel released a draft report on how Americans can adapt to a changing climate, a more than 1,000 page tome that also sums up what has become increasingly apparent: The country is hotter than it used to be, rainfall is becoming both more intense and more erratic, and rising seas and storm surges threaten U.S. coasts.

In pictures: Sand mining in Sierra Leone

Once synonymous with a brutal civil war, Sierra Leone was forecast to be one of the world’s fastest growing countries in 2012. On the back of the rapid economic growth, a construction boom, with new roads and buildings springing up in and around the major towns… But the construction brings with it increasing demand for sand, coming from the country’s beautiful beaches…

In Japan, a Painfully Slow Sweep

More than a year and a half since the nuclear crisis, much of Japan’s post-Fukushima cleanup remains primitive, slapdash and bereft of the cleanup methods lauded by government scientists as effective in removing harmful radioactive cesium from the environment.