Three years after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, it’s estimated that over one million people on both sides have been killed or injured in the war. Whole towns have been flattened and infrastructure destroyed, leading to almost 6 million people displaced internally and 5.7 million refugees taking shelter in neighboring European countries.
(“How Three Years of War Have Ravaged Ukraine’s Forests and the People Who Depend on Them,” Grist, Oct. 5, 2025)
Ethiopia opened its new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in mid-September. The massive dam took 14 years to build at a cost of $5 billion over the objections of Egypt which had controlled the flow of the Nile’s waters for decades.
(“Ethiopia Debuts New Mega Dam,” Foreign Policy, Sept. 10, 2025)
Conservationists and environmentalists are concerned that the planned expansion of Donald Trump’s federally-funded border wall along the U.S.-Mexico frontier, can stop or deter the migration of pivotal pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The nearly 2,000 mile-long borderland between the U.S. and Mexico is often regarded as barren, but it’s the site of several highly biodiverse regions that are home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and insects.
(“The Mexico-US Wall May Pose Perils to Pollinators,” Inside Climate News, Oct. 13, 2025)
