News by Subject Policy & Ethics

Over two million Muslim travelers just finished the annual religious pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, traveling during some of the country's hottest weather. New research finds pilgrims in future summers may have to endure heat and humidity extreme enough to endanger their health. The results can help inform policies that would make the trip safer for the several million people who make the pilgrimage each year, according to the study's authors.

More public and private resources than ever are being directed to protecting and preserving aquatic ecosystems and watersheds. Whether mandated for land development, farming or in response to the growing severity and number of natural disasters - scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University found evidence that decades of watershed restoration and mitigation projects have taken place, but their impact is mostly perceived; data is relatively undocumented -- or simply missing.

With sea level rise and extreme weather threatening coastal communities, it's no longer a question of whether they are going to retreat; it's where, when and how. In a new paper, researchers advocate for a managed and planned retreat, not a short-term spur of the moment reaction to a massive storm.

Climate change is the big wild card when it comes to the survival of many Arctic species. A new study shows that climate change will be both good and bad for Svalbard barnacle goose populations -- although the balance may tip depending upon the severity of future temperature increases, and how other species react.

Researchers at Stanford and other institutions present the case for managed retreat in the face of climate change and rising seas in a new Policy Forum article in the journal Science. Here the researchers detail why despite controversy over the topic of relocation, sea level rise adaptation must be approached strategically and communities should plan ahead.