All articles
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Seeds of change: on the frontlines of the fight against cadmium rice
I remember when I first visited the Hengdong Industrial Zone in early 2014. There was something eerie and deeply unsettling about the lush rice fields sitting adjacent to the openly polluting factories, whose seven giant stacks poured out toxic clouds day and night. These clouds contain the poisonous element cadmium, which filter deep into the…
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7 reasons to claim water for life, not for coal
Safe, affordable and accessible water is one of our planet's scarcest natural resources. Many people don't have access to fresh water for sanitation, agriculture, or even to drink.
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Bad to worse: ranking 74 Chinese cities by air pollution
We’ve mined the data and produced a ranking of 74 Chinese cities by levels of PM2.5 air pollution. The figures were taken from official data published by the Ministry of…
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The effect of Steve Jobs on the lives of impoverished workers in China
In the week that has passed since Steve Jobs’ passing, much has been said about his legacy. The outpouring has ranged from near religious idolatry, to more sober reminders of some…
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China’s Remaining Forests
China’s hunger for development has put its forests under incredible stress. Tragically, development has robbed the country of almost all of its great primeval forests, through which elephants once roamed as far as Beijing.
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The Problems of Deforestation in Asia
In East Asia, we have already lost much of our natural forestlands, while our demand for paper, agricultural products, timber, and meat is driving the destruction of the world’s last ancient forests in Indonesia, the Amazon, and the Congo.