- Crises & Conflicts
- Articles
- General
The Refugee Camp That Lives on in Limbo
The U.N. deadline to close the controversial Yida refugee camp near the border between the Sudans has passed – but its 70,000 residents are refusing to leave.
In-depth
General
- Environment & Wildlife
- Law & Policy
- Articles
- General
Scientist: Culling Predator Fish Won’t Save Salmon
A bill passed by U.S. House of Representatives seeks to limit predator fish, such as striped bass, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to aid struggling salmon populations. But scientists say the strategy won’t work.
- Civil Society
- Displacement
- Articles
- General
My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 74
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
- Climate & Weather
- Environment & Wildlife
- Articles
- General
Summer of Fire: Climate Change Driving Wildfires
In the latest story in our “Summer of Fire” series about the state of the West’s forests, we look at the role of temperature in increasing the number of large fires, the amount of area burned and the length of the fire season.
- Innovation & Technology
- Articles
- General
A Future in Code: Building Life Skills in Syria
Motivated by a desire to rebuild Syria’s devastated economy, enterprising young women in the war-torn country are turning to tech to help others of their generation find employment – and better futures.
- Economy
- Articles
- General
Creating a Database of Northern Operators
HIGH NORTH NEWS: A database of businesses operating in the Arctic could encourage best practices, provide communities with information on what to expect from a company and help define sustainable development in an Arctic context.
- Civil Society
- Education
- Solutions
- Articles
- General
The Teacher: How One Woman Educated an Entire Camp
Umm Abdu abandoned her education when she got married. But after the war broke out in Syria, she fled the opposition-held neighborhoods of Aleppo for government-controlled Tartus, and devoted her life to tutoring children.
- Environment
- Articles
- General
Seas Rising Faster Than Refugee Law Can Adapt
As warming seas climb their shores, Marshall Islanders face becoming climate refugees before the international community can decide what rights, if any, that status confers.
- Geopolitics & Security
- Research
- Articles
- General
Visas to Russia a Challenge for U.S. Researchers
HIGH NORTH NEWS: The cold political climate between the East and the West is hurting cooperation in academia. It has become almost impossible for U.S. researchers to get visas to travel to Russia for conferences and meetings.
- Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Religious & Ethnic Groups
- Articles
- General
How Hafez al-Assad Divided the Alawite Sect
It may have been 16 years since the death of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, but his legacy still lives on in the war-torn country’s sectarian politics.
- Refugee Voices
- Articles
- General
Comment: World Refugee Week Roundup
We gather the highlights of our World Refugee Week coverage, including commentary advocating for long-term rights of refugees and reporting on refugee theater troupes and resettled asylum seekers.
- Civil Society
- Displacement
- Human Rights
- Articles
- General
Why Parenting in a Refugee Camp Can Be Tough
World Vision’s Lindsay Gladding discusses the everyday difficulties faced by parents as they try to raise their children in the refugee camps of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
- Government & Pro-Government Forces
- Human Rights
- ISIS
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- General
Children are Fighting on All Sides of Syria’s War
Whether it’s with the Free Syrian Army or the pro-government National Defense Forces militia, ISIS or the Kurds, children across the war-torn country have consistently been recruited to fight in Syria’s war.
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
New Groundwater Found Deep Under Central Valley
Previous estimates of groundwater in California’s drought-stricken Central Valley only looked at depths of up to 1,000ft (300m), but a new study says there’s three times as much freshwater at 1,000–3,000ft (300–900m) below ground.
- Climate & Weather
- Environment & Wildlife
- Articles
- General
Perfect Storm Brewing for California Fire Season
A bark beetle epidemic driven by drought is killing off millions of trees in the Sierra Nevada as California starts another summer plagued by drought and higher temperatures.
- Environment
- Research
- Articles
- General
Open Water Sends Polar Bears to Shore for Food
HAKAI MAGAZINE: As the ice melts, polar bears are being forced to move on land. And they’re adapting any way they can – even if that means scavenging their next meal from people.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- General
Turmoil, Danger Test Syrian MSF Staff in Azaz
Syrian medical staff with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) discuss what it’s like working at Al Salamah hospital in the Syrian town of Azaz on the Turkish border.
- Opposition Groups & Rebel Forces
- Articles
- General
Marat al-Numan: the Thorn in al-Nusra’s Side
Residents of Maarat al-Numan in rural Idlib have been protesting against the rule of al-Qaida’s Jabhat al-Nusra for more than 100 days – one of the longest protest campaigns since 2011.
- Economics
- Law & Policy
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
How Is California Spending the Water Bond?
In 2014, California voters passed a $7.5 billion water bond – nearly 80 percent of which has now been appropriated. Here’s a look at where that money is going, and which key areas are yet to have funds awarded.
- Innovation & Technology
- Integration
- Articles
- General
Europe’s Mayors Band Together to Assist Refugees
With cities across Europe continuing to attract the majority of the continent’s refugees, mayors struggling with insufficient budgets are helping each other and calling for increased E.U. funds to integrate new arrivals.
- Crises & Conflicts
- Articles
- General
Somali Refugees Struggle in Shadow of Forced Return
Kenya’s November deadline to shut down camps and repatriate Somali refugees leaves a community living in dangerous limbo, with some contemplating escape to Europe.
- Environment & Wildlife
- Law & Policy
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
Bill to Aid Water Supply by Restoring Forests
A bill in the California Legislature aims to improve water supplies by restoring key watersheds in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Critics say that’s an important step, but the bill needs to go further.
- Northern People & Health
- Research
- Articles
- General
Summer in Norway’s Most Isolated Community
A posting to Jan Mayen island in the North Atlantic is a dream come true for some. “Meet the North,” a series that ventures into the lives of some of the 4 million people who call the Arctic home, learns about love and isolation in a community of 18 souls.
- Northern People & Health
- Articles
- General
Children: The Most Important Resource
HIGH NORTH NEWS: Issues related to education and social well-being affect all Arctic nations and must be given more importance in discussions about the future of the Arctic region.
- Health
- Articles
- General
Refugees Healing Scars With Yoga
To mark International Yoga Day today, we explore how the ancient mind-body practice is helping women and men escaping conflict to heal some of the emotional scars that they carry with them.
- Climate & Weather
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
Will Water Sector Help or Hurt on Climate Change?
The water sector use 19 percent of California’s electricity. If more clean energy is used, this presents a big opportunity for the state to move toward meeting its climate goals and for water utilities to realize new economic benefits.
- Integration
- Refugee Voices
- Articles
- General
Interactive: Resettled in the Heart of America
As part of our special coverage for World Refugee Day, we mark the importance of resettlement by gathering first-hand accounts of refugees from Iraq, Syria, Congo, South Sudan and Myanmar on an interactive world map.
- American West
- Climate & Weather
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
What Lake Mead’s Record Low Means for California
After 16 years of drought in the Colorado River Basin, Lake Mead has hit its lowest point ever. Here’s a look at what impact this will have on the 19 million Californians who depend on the water supply.
- Civil Society
- Human Rights
- Articles
- General
Civilian Survival Strategies in Syria
Natasha Hall of the Center for Civilians in Conflict discusses enhanced protection mechanisms and ways to put survival in Syria back in the hands of civilians themselves.
- Crises & Conflicts
- Articles
- General
Eritreans Flee Military Draft in Record Numbers
A latest UN report reveals “enslavement” of hundreds of thousands of Eritreans through forced conscription by the country’s military dictatorship - a driving reason for their flight.
- Environment
- Northern People & Health
- Articles
- General
The Rise of Inuit Activism in a Changing Arctic
Sheila Watt-Cloutier is one of the toughest, most influential Inuit activists in Canada. Her perspective on the effects of toxic chemicals and climate change on the Arctic have transformed the issues of science, politics and economics into those of human rights.
- Civil Society
- Displacement
- Articles
- General
My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 72
Marah, a teenage girl from one of Syria’s besieged cities, recently arrived in Switzerland as a refugee, where she is struggling with her first pregnancy and the potential breakup of her family.
- Laws & Policy
- Refugee Voices
- Articles
- General
Resettled in the Heart of America: Part 4
In this fourth part of our World Refugee Day special series on the experiences of men and women from around the world who resettle in America, we speak with Khamisa, who fled violence in southern Sudan – now the world’s newest state, South Sudan.
- Agriculture
- Economics
- Management & Supply
- Articles
- General
Is Drought Causing a Health Crisis in California?
Health officials used a Centers for Disease Control survey protocol to understand drought impacts in Tulare County. Some of the findings are worrisome, suggesting there’s a lot more work still to do.
- Human Rights
- Articles
- General
Feeding Aleppo Below the Bombs
Mercy Corps is one of the only international humanitarian groups providing food aid to opposition-held areas of Aleppo city. Its humanitarian director for Syria, Ashley Proud, explains how it delivers aid and how it is preparing for an impending siege of Aleppo city.
- Laws & Policy
- Refugee Voices
- Articles
- General
Resettled in the Heart of America: Part 3
In this third part of our World Refugee Day special series on the experiences of men and women from around the world who resettle in America, we speak with Ahmed about his journey from Iraq to Syria – from one conflict to another – to reach the safety of Idaho.
- Environment
- Governance
- Northern People & Health
- Articles
- General
Yup’ik: Evicted by Climate Change
HAKAI MAGAZINE: Government regulations forced the Yup’ik to give up their seminomadic existence. Now, as the land around them vanishes, they’re puzzling through the problem of moving.
- Laws & Policy
- Refugee Voices
- Articles
- General
Resettled in the Heart of America: Part 2
Patrick Bakwa describes his move from Kinshasa to Boise in the second part of our series ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20 that focuses on the experiences of men and women from around the world who resettle in the heart of America.
- Environment
- Research
- Articles
- General
Unmanned Drones Sail the Bering Sea
Researchers in the Bering Sea are using autonomous sailing vessels, powered by the sun and wind, to collect data on ocean conditions, fish and marine mammals in a rapidly changing, biologically rich area.
- Laws & Policy
- Articles
- General
Photo Essay: EKO Camp Before Evacuation
In light of the police-led evacuation of an informal camp at Polykastro in Greece on June 13, we revisit the 1,800-strong settlement made up of people who sought refuge at a gas station for several months, through the images and words of photographer Kelly Lynn Lunde.