The Coffee Crisis: Mitigation and Innovation

Everybody loves coffee. At least, that’s how it seems. Nearly 83% of adults in the United States drink coffee, according to a National Coffee Association survey. In Honduras alone, the coffee sector is one of the region’s largest rural employers, with more than 96,000 local coffee producers and a million workers. However, the growers and retailers are still struggling to meet demand, bringing in some of the worst harvests Central America has seen in years. Amid high temperatures and inconsistent rain patterns, the Arabica coffee bean is more susceptible to disease, infestation and abandonment than ever. With their plants plagued by leaf rust fungus and Antestia stinkbugs (which combined roughly costs $750 million in annual damages), farmers from Central America are relinquishing their livelihoods to find work elsewhere. 

The challenges of financing the Harvey recovery

After the initial response to a large natural disaster, the difficult and often politically-fraught work of long-term recovery begins. Particularly daunting challenges exist in trying to finance repairs by calibrating changes in taxes and spending and prioritizing resources to rebuild local economies. The estimated cost of the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey has produced a range of estimates, from $190 billion, eclipsing the $160 billion cost of Hurricane Katrina, to lower estimates of $60-$70 billion from economist Bernard Weinstein. Many of these estimates fail to incorporate the indirect costs such as healthcare costs, or the cascading impact of oil refinery shutdowns.

Thai soccer team rescued after 18 days underground used meditation to cope with trauma and stay alive

After surviving 18 days trapped four kilometers underground, inside a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand, a soccer team consisting of 12 young boys aged 11-17 and their assistant coach were brought to safety by a coordinated team of expert cave divers. The soccer team, called the Wild Boars (“Moo Paa” in Thai), along with their 25-year-old assistant coach, went exploring in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system after a practice on June 23. Though the area was dry when they entered the cave, they became trapped when torrential rain flooded the exit path.

Texas faces long recovery from Harvey, rising financial toll

As floodwaters receded and rescuers searched waterlogged neighborhoods for more potential victims, Houston officials began turning their attention to finding temporary housing for those in shelters and getting enough gasoline for people to fill up cars — but also to the city's long-term recovery, which will take years and billions of dollars. Authorities raised the death toll from the storm to 39 late Thursday. And the latest statewide damage surveys revealed the staggering extent of the destruction.