WorldUnicef says 25.8 million children in Latin America, one in seven, face growing risks from droughts and floods brought by a record El Nino, with harvest losses raising malnutrition risk in Central America.
BangladeshBangladesh's second agro-ecological zone is a narrow, restless belt along the Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers. Here the river builds new land and takes old land away, and farmers grow maize, potatoes, chillies and carrots on chars that may vanish in the next flood. Understanding it takes village-level records, and satellite images and machine learning can help only when they are checked in farmers' fields.
EnvironmentThe water resources ministry has sent a proposal for a feasibility study of about Tk 23 crore on the Teesta master plan to the Planning Commission; the plan covers bank protection, dredging, embankments and reclaiming 170 sq km of land.
Many saplings planted under Sirajganj's government tree-planting drive have died within six weeks for lack of care, while one Ullapara union shows a cost of about Tk 399 per tree against a market price of Tk 50 to 60.
ECNEC has approved a Tk 751.77 crore project to rebuild the Musapur regulator in Companiganj, Noakhali, which collapsed in August 2024, and to improve flood and river management and drainage in the Chhoto Feni and Bamni river basins.
GalleryThe white-throated kingfisher is one of 11 kingfisher species found in Bangladesh; photographer Hasan Mahmud follows one at Balarampur in Pabna from its perch to the dive and the catch, in a Prothom Alo photo story.
EnvironmentThe Gandak rose above the danger mark and breached a ring dam in Areraj block of East Champaran, Bihar, flooding about a dozen villages, submerging paddy and leaving people short of drinking water and fodder.
EnvironmentWarm El Nino water travelling along the Pacific as a 'Kelvin wave' is heading for California, where it can raise sea levels and worsen flooding from tides and storms, scientists warn.
EnvironmentAbout 6,000 acres of mangrove on Sonadia island in Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, an ecologically critical area, have been cleared for 50 shrimp enclosures, and a High Court eviction order has yet to be carried out.
FlowersThalia geniculata, a purple-and-white flowering aquatic shrub a Samakal writer proposes calling jal kalaboti, has recently entered the country's plant lists and is now seen in Ramna Park.
EnvironmentIQAir's Wednesday morning ranking put Dhaka joint seventh with Delhi among cities with the most polluted air, with an AQI of 152; Kolkata topped the list at 182, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Kampala.
EnvironmentThe EU's Copernicus atmosphere service found that 34 percent of the world's population, and 53 percent of Asia's, was exposed to extremely poor ozone levels in the first eight and a half months of 2026.
EnvironmentThe EU's atmosphere monitoring service says 50% of Europeans faced poor or worse ground-level ozone from June to August, as heat and wildfires drove a pollutant that is also a greenhouse gas and harms crops.
