Drones to fight deforestation

Conversationists are building drones that can monitor deforestation rates and capture evidence of illegal logging (Mashable, Tree Hugger). It moves the problem of deforestation from one of too little information (we used to have no idea what occurred in the remote regions of the Amazon) to one where people almost have too much information. How do they track all of the videos and info that they will collect?

100 year view on climate change in CentAm

A new study providing the 100 year view on climate change in Central America is rather grim. Temperatures will rise by over 2 degree Celsius in most of the region. This will reshape agriculture, reduce biodiversity and could cause diseases to spread, such as dengue reaching San Jose, Costa Rica.

Most importantly, there will be less water in key agricultural areas. Countries, if they keep the same borders, will likely fight over fresh water supplies, river flows and watersheds. Countries need to think through and prepare water management plans if they hope to provide for their entire populations in the coming decades. When the water does arrive, it will often be in the form of devastating floods and hurricanes, requiring better resilience and responses by regional authorities.