Extreme and frequent storms, hurricanes, rainfall, floods, heat waves, droughts, forest fires, avalanches, mudslides and landslides, plus melting glaciers, rising sea levels and ocean temperatures, coral bleaching, El Niño activities and the changing ecosystem all indicate the extent of global environmental change. As a result, climate related disasters are on the rise. About 2.5 billion people were affected by these disasters this past decade compared to 1.7 billion ...

“We’ve got to figure out how we protect the environment, the Native culture and still come up with a sound solution that doesn’t create more problems down the road. This means collaboration between different agencies and groups involved up and down – federal, state, local and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It works when the local community stays in charge.” [dropcap style=5

Until Jan. 12, 2010, few people gave Haiti much thought. However, after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and global news network coverage of the devastating damage and socio-economic conditions in the aftermath, the country and its people were on the minds of many. For Haitians, though, the new disaster was yet another knockdown for those living in the least developed and poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Such generational experiences have left a legacy of illiter...