The world has a sobering debt problem. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ensuing shocks to commodity prices, governments everywhere have borrowed enormous sums to promote stability and kickstart recovery.

The great power competition underway between the United States and China has a ripple effect in each nation’s neighborhood. As the United States prepares for possible conflict seven thousand miles away in the Taiwan Strait, China is expanding its economic influence in Latin America.

Imagine trying to perform a C-section, or conduct a delivery, in a hospital with no light.

For hundreds of thousands of health workers, this is the reality they face each night. Close to 300,000 women and one million newborns (primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia) die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth each year. Hemorrhage, infection, eclampsia, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion cause the majority of obstetric deaths— many of which could be prevented with access to timely emergency obstetric care.

Over the past several months, members of the foreign affairs and development communities have heaped a great deal of attention—and interpretation—on the pace of demographic change in Nigeria.

The United States is in the midst of a maternal mental health crisis. Not only are mental health conditions the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, but they are also the leading cause of maternal mortality. Each year, 800,000 families in the United States will be impacted by maternal mental health (MMH) conditions—and 225 new mothers will die by suicide or overdose. 

In today’s demographically diverse world, population issues abound, creating different and important social, economic, and political implications. World Population Day (observed each year on July 11) offers an opportunity to reflect on why population is so important. Understanding the implications of population growth and decline, as well as population age structure and migration—is essential to strengthen our abilities to plan for a more sustainable future.

As a potent greenhouse gas, methane puts food production in jeopardy though its impacts on planetary warming, reduction of crop yields via tropospheric ozone, and drops in livestock productivity. Cattle, sheep, and goats emit methane as a natural part of their digestive process as ruminants (technically known as “enteric fermentation”) as they turn the fibrous plants of their diet into milk and meat.

The Arctic was once untouched and pristine. However, over the years, the polar environment has experienced ecological damage caused by extensive resource exploration, military activities, and contamination from sources originating outside of the region. The extent and implications of the human-induced pollution legacy are still awaiting comprehensive estimation, measures, and solutions.