Jessica Brown
The surgical mask will be an enduring symbol of 2020: an icon of the pandemic. Flexible, durable and disposable, it is an ideal tool for infection control. Yet these very qualities also make masks emblematic
Fernanda Bak
At a young age, Martin Burt challenged the view that poverty stemmed from the bad habits of the poor, marshaling the case that its deepest roots are to be found in the actions of the
Driving Change
This decade may be the last in which humanity has a chance, at least, to mitigate the effects of runaway climate change. After decades on the policy periphery, in recent times there have been a
Carolyn Whelan
Thanks to their inherent social distance and easier border control, island nations have tended to do a better job in managing the threat of COVID-19. Witness New Zealand, which declared victory just weeks into the
Rachel Dobbs
“It gives me an international platform where I can pick up some of the challenges cities are facing and look for solutions," says Mahesh Harhare, explaining why he wanted the job of Chief Resilience Officer
Jessica Brown
Until the pandemic struck, 2020 was set to be a big year for saving the oceans. As the new decade dawned, spirits among the loose community of activists, scientists, policymakers and businesspeople who had built
Jessica Brown
Not long ago, belching buses were the blight of almost all big cities. Today, commuters are increasingly likely to hop on a quiet, clean electric bus. “When we started speaking to manufacturers about electrifying bus
Fernanda Bak
“Women are bearing the brunt of the economic and social fallout of COVID-19, and it's going to get worse,” says Isabel Saint-Malo, warning that even the limited advances in female empowerment made in the past
Andrew Cave
Stephane Farouze has an even more improbable story than Alfred Jones, Ewan McGregor’s scientist in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. While that $35m-grossing romantic comedy about efforts to populate desert wadis with Scottish salmon focused on
Driving Change
Since 2014, Gavin Schmidt has been director of the influential NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, located in New York's Columbia University. One of the institute's key objectives is predicting atmospheric and climate changes in
