World Development News

April 18, 2024

Top Headlines

How Climate Change Will Impact Food Production and Financial Institutions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new method to predict the financial impacts climate change will have on agriculture, which can help support food security and financial stability for countries increasingly prone to climate ...

With the Planet Facing a 'Polycrisis', Biodiversity Researchers Uncover Major Knowledge Gaps

Apr. 4, 2024 — Connecting the study of infectious disease spread, biodiversity loss and climate change could offer win-win-win solutions for planetary health, but a new analysis has uncovered almost no research ...

Millions Are at Risk Using High Arsenic Water for Cooking

Mar. 21, 2024 — Around 32 per cent of the world's population live in countries that do not adhere to the World Health Organization's recommendations on safe limits of arsenic in drinking ...

Ag Economists Offer Food for Thought to Improve Baby Formula Supply

Feb. 22, 2024 — Remember the 2022 baby formula crisis? The historic shortage of infant formula that year highlighted the precarious balance between regulation, competition and safety, according to a new study. The article takes a close look at the infant formula ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:55pm EDT

Researchers Overestimate Their Own Honesty

Feb. 26, 2024 — The average researcher thinks they are better than their colleagues at following good research practice. They also think that their own research field is better than other research fields at ...

Can Hunger Be Eradicated by 2030?

Feb. 26, 2024 — World hunger is growing at an alarming rate, with prolonged conflicts, climate change, and COVID-19 exacerbating the problem. In 2022, the World Food Programme helped a record 158 million people. On ...

Only 18% of the Global Land Area That Is Needed for Human Well-Being and Biodiversity Is Currently Protected

Jan. 10, 2024 — An international group of researchers finds that conserving about half of global land area could maintain nearly all of nature's contributions to ...

Evolution Might Stop Humans from Solving Climate Change

Jan. 2, 2024 — Human culture has evolved to allow humans to extract resources and helped us expand to dominate the biosphere. But the same evolutionary processes may counteract efforts to solve new global ...

Climate Report: 'Uncharted Territory' Imperils Life on Earth

Oct. 24, 2023 — An international coalition of climate scientists says that the Earth's vital signs have worsened beyond anything humans have yet seen, to the point that life on the planet is ...

Experts Warn of Risk of Civil Unrest in UK Due to Food Shortages

Oct. 12, 2023 — Food shortages caused by extreme weather could lead to civil unrest in the UK, according to a new study which has surveyed some of the country’s leading food ...

Protecting Lands Slows Biodiversity Loss Among Vertebrates by Five Times

Sep. 27, 2023 — Protecting large swaths of Earth's land can help stem the tide of biodiversity loss -- especially when those protected areas are in less disturbed landscapes and in countries with effective national ...

Predicting the Sustainability of a Future Hydrogen Economy

Sep. 21, 2023 — As renewable energy sources like wind and solar ramp up, they can be used to sustainably generate hydrogen fuel. But implementing such a strategy on a large scale requires land and water dedicated to ...

Take the Money Now or Later? Financial Scarcity Doesn't Lead to Poor Decision Making

Sep. 14, 2023 — When people feel that their resources are scarce -- that they don't have enough money or time to meet their needs -- they often make decisions that ...

Lions on the Brink -- New Analysis Reveals the Differing Threats to African Lion Populations

Sep. 11, 2023 — New results reveal that many of Africa's remaining lions live within small, fragmented populations at risk of disappearing. The researchers developed ...

Does Russia Stand to Benefit from Climate Change?

Feb. 21, 2024 — There exists a narrative about climate change that says there are winners and losers -- with Russia being one of the countries that stand to benefit from its effects. In a new study, researchers ...

U.S. Renters Are Hit the Hardest When a Hurricane Strikes, New Research Shows

Dec. 14, 2023 — Two new studies based on data from 2009 to 2018 show that renters living along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States face rent increases, higher eviction rates, and a lack of affordable ...

Emphasizing the Need for Energy Independence Could Change the Views of Climate Deniers, Study Says

Aug. 30, 2023 — Emphasising the need for energy independence and environmental stewardship could help to change people’s minds about the climate crisis, a new study ...

Nature-Based Solutions Can Help Tackle Climate Change and Food Security, but Communities Outside Europe Are Missing out

Aug. 1, 2023 — Nature-based solutions (NBS) can help grand challenges, such as climate change and food security, but, as things stand, communities outside of Europe do not stand to benefit from these innovations. ...

Climate Science Is Catching Up to Climate Change With Predictions That Could Improve Proactive Response

July 21, 2023 — In Africa, climate change impacts are experienced as extreme events like drought and floods. It has now been possible to predict and monitor these climatic events, providing early warning of their ...

The Missing Americans: Unprecedented US Mortality Far Exceeds Other Wealthy Nations

July 17, 2023 — A new study found that more than one million US deaths per year -- including many young and working-age adults -- could be avoided if the US had mortality rates similar to its peer nations. In 2021, ...

The Good Advice That Could Lift People out of Poverty

July 12, 2023 — Researchers have found that providing access to advice about housing, debt and benefits within food banks could help lift people out of poverty. The initiative meant that people forced to use a food ...

Energy Insecurity Is an Underappreciated Social and Environmental Determinant of Health

June 29, 2023 — In light of climate change and the impending transition to clean energy, many long-standing programs to address energy insecurity need to be refreshed. A new paper provides growing documentation of ...

21st Century Economic Growth Will Be Slower Than We Thought

June 23, 2023 — The global economy will grow slower in the 21st century than economists have expected, a finding that has implications for our ability to adapt to climate change in the coming decades, according to ...

In Years After El Niño, Global Economy Loses Trillions

May 18, 2023 — Researchers report that the financial toll of the climate pattern known as El Niño can persist for several years and cost trillions in lost income worldwide. The study, which is among the first to ...

World's Climate Plans Make for a Worrying Read

Apr. 19, 2023 — CLIMATE According to the climate plans submitted to the UN by 50 countries, 12 gigatons of CO2 per year will continue to be emitted by 2050 -- and need to be removed from the atmosphere. Among other ...

Excess Death Gap Widens Between U.S. and Europe, Study Finds

Mar. 30, 2023 — A new analysis shows that, compared to similarly high-income European countries, the United States continues to have substantially higher death rates at all but the oldest ages, resulting in more ...

At Least 80% of the World's Most Important Sites for Biodiversity on Land Currently Contain Human Developments

Mar. 23, 2023 — At least 80% of sites identified as being internationally important for biodiversity on land currently contain infrastructure -- of which more than 75% contain roads. In the future, more sites that ...

News You Can Use -- To Better Predict Food Crisis Outbreaks

Mar. 3, 2023 — A team of researchers has developed a machine learning model that draws from the contents of news articles to effectively predict locations that face risks of food insecurity. The model, which could ...

Developing Countries Pay the Highest Price for Living With Large Carnivores

Feb. 24, 2023 — A team of researchers has highlighted human-wildlife conflict as one of the globe's most pressing human development and conservation dilemmas. New research looked at 133 countries where 18 large ...

Diets Rich in Food from the Ocean and Freshwater Sources Can Help Address Nutritional and Environmental Challenges

Feb. 22, 2023 — Blue foods -- those that come from the ocean or freshwater environments -- have tremendous potential to help address several global challenges. With careful implementation of policies that leverage ...

Rationing: A Fairer Way to Fight Climate Change?

Feb. 20, 2023 — World War II-style rationing could be an effective way to reduce carbon emissions, according to new ...

Devastating Cost of Future Coastal Flooding for Many Developing Nations Predicted in New Study

Feb. 7, 2023 — New global modelling predicts the devastating socioeconomic impacts of future extreme coastal flooding for developing nations caused by climate change, with Asia, West Africa and Egypt facing severe ...

Engineers Examine Drinking Water Management Strategies

Feb. 1, 2023 — While residents in California are still dealing with damage from last month's floods -- after years of devastating droughts -- engineers are looking at better ways to manage the delivery of safe ...

How to Apply Lessons from Colorado's Costliest Wildfire to Drinking Water Systems

Jan. 25, 2023 — While communities and governments nationwide have been facing the impact of wildfires on drinking water systems, no national synthesis of scientific and policy needs has been conducted. Now, a study ...