Understanding the sand mining crisis in India’s rivers
India's rivers are facing an alarming crisis due to rampant and often illegal sand mining, which is threatening the survival of endangered species and disrupting the delicate ecological balance of these vital waterways. Sand has become a precious commodity in India due to the burgeoning construction industry's insatiable demand. This has...
Current in Change
Is this about to be Britain’s rainiest summer for more than a century?
The Met Office has warned the UK government and nationwide transport officials to start preparing for the wettest summer in over 100 years. If you’re living in the UK right now, you’re probably wondering where the glorious sun is hiding. After an particularly miserable spring, Brits everywhere have been forced to...
How India is tackling its hunger and malnutrition crisis
India's fight against hunger and malnutrition remains an uphill battle, with staggering statistics that paint a grim picture of the nation's invisible crisis affecting millions, especially among the most vulnerable communities. India's dismal ranking of 111 out of 125 countries in the 2023 Global Hunger Index, with a 'serious'...
Rishi Sunak wants to scrap your ‘low-value’ university degree
If the Conservatives win the UK’s July election, Rishi Sunak has vowed to scrap ‘rip-off’ university degrees in favour of skilled apprenticeships. Creative and cultural studies will likely be the hardest hit. The UK’s prime minister Rishi Sunak is worried that our university degrees aren’t preparing us well enough...
Israel’s attack on the last ‘safe zone’ in Gaza sparks global outcry
The IDF’s latest lethal attack on a refugee camp in Gaza has violated an order laid out by the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, leaders in Europe are moving to recognise Palestine as a state, signalling a major turning point in the conflict. Days after the October 7th attack,...
Buzunesh Deba’s unpaid winnings expose running world’s failings
The 2014 Boston Marathon winner has been waiting on her prize money for years. But it was a stranger, not race organisers, who finally gave her what she’d earned. 8 years ago, Ethiopian runner Buzunesh Deba got the call of a lifetime. She’d won the Boston Marathon – 2 years...
Climate change is making plane turbulence worse
While storms and undulating mountain winds can affect the amount of turbulence we experience on flights, there’s one other factor that is being worsened by climate change. For now, it’s completely undetectable to pilots. By now, you’ve probably heard about the Singapore Airlines flight that encountered severe turbulence and suddenly plunged 6,000 feet just hours before reaching its destination. The intense disturbance caused a British national on board to go into...
Jane Goodall at 90 and the chimpanzees who started it all
The future of Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzees hangs in the balance, but what can we still learn from them today? In July 1960, a twenty-six-year-old Jane Goodall decided to move into one of the smallest parks on the African continent to study a troop of chimpanzees. Within Gombe Stream Nature Reserve, Tanzania, Goodall would live, work, and observe these animals, taking the first steps to becoming the conservation superhero she is...
Unpredictable weather decimates India’s salt production
India's salt production, concentrated in Gujarat's salt pans, is facing a grim future due to erratic weather patterns, putting the nation's self-sufficiency in salt at risk. For centuries, the Agariya community in Gujarat's Kachchh district has relied on the region's arid climate and vast salt marshes to produce salt, a practice deeply rooted in their cultural heritage. However, the once-predictable weather patterns that facilitated their livelihood have taken an uncertain...
The fight to save the African Penguin
The African penguin, ‘Spheniscus demersus’ is an iconic species native to the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. These charismatic birds face a multitude of threats, primarily from human activities and climate change. In the last century, the African penguin’s population has plummeted, pushing them dangerously close to extinction. Human activities have had a profound impact on the birds and their habitat. Overfishing, pollution, and disturbance from tourism are among the...
