Stories: People & Ecosystems

The rooftop at 10 G Street is about to get a lot greener—3,000 square feet to be exact. In real estate-scarce cities, commercial property owners nationwide are turning roof space into green space.

Climate change may dominate headlines today. Ecosystem degradation will do so tomorrow. Why should business care?

Man-made flood-control systems—such as levees, upstream dams, and canals—continue to be responsible for widespread damage to the New Orleans and Louisiana landscapes.

The representatives of more than 100 countries attending December’s U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, finally focused on the important role tropical forests play in global warming.

Border security is not typically recognized as being tied to environmental changes, but in this recent article by The New York Times, the links are clear. It details how declining fish catches in northwest Africa are fueling immigration to Europe.

My team at WRI, together with Dr. Bob Diaz at the Virginia Marine Institute, has identified and mapped 415 eutrophic and hypoxic coastal systems worldwide through an extensive literature review. Of these, 169 are documented hypoxic areas, 233 are areas of concern and 13 are systems in recovery.

Trends to Watch is WRI’s annual forecast of emerging issues that will have major impacts on environmental coverage in 2008. On climate change: what will happen between COP-13 in Bali, and COP-14 in Poznan? What role will China play? Will we see new legislation and regulations from Congress or the EPA? Where will biofuels and technology go? Where will the water come from? WRI President Jonathan Lash makes his predictions at the National Press Club.