Climate

Earlier this year, I embarked on a probing trip to a small coastal area in Southeast Asia to see what this ancient wood-eater could offer us: about resilience, and the many ways life endures, adapts, and sustains others.

In his new book, The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester chronicles the myriad ways in which the wind plays a role in our everyday lives — from cataclysmic to messianic to downright mundane. “Wind, in short, seems a universal,” Winchester writes. “Air in motion finds its way into just about every activity and inactivity of man, beast, plant, and thing that exists in the world above its waters.”

With the winter chills likely to intensify and spike energy bills, equitable access to clean energy upgrades is more urgent than ever, especially for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, who were deprioritized under the Trump administration and remain underserved.

Cloudbursts in India and atmospheric rivers in California are distinct weather phenomena, yet both unleash intense rainfall over a relatively short period. As climate change aggravates these events, there is an urgent need for governments to up their game in weather prediction. 

Using Google’s Flood Hub, a nonprofit trial program sends early warning and unconditional cash to workers.

A commercial street frequented by Chinese and Indonesian workers near the entrance of the industrial compound in Weda Bay, North Maluku, Indonesia. (Wufei Yu/Grist)

Extreme heat poses a significant threat to millions of people worldwide, particularly to burn victims, who have lost the ability to regulate their internal body temperatures through the natural process of homeostasis.

An increasingly important route for transporting commodities from Brazil’s central-west region, BR-364 in Rondônia will be partially twinned and upgraded with passing lanes. Image courtesy of Marcio Ferreira/Brazilian Ministry of Transport.

The root causes of period poverty in Zimbabwe run deeper than simple affordability. Prolonged droughts, many worsened by climate change, have devastated crops and pushed millions into deeper poverty, leaving agrarian families unable to buy basic menstrual products.

“It hardly snowed this year. Almost nothing in the valley,” the 35-year-old says, pulling his woolen cap down against the cold wind. “The trees are flowering, and this is when they need the most care. At this point, it’s not about a good harvest — it’s about keeping them alive.”