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Businessman Kizito Tinarwo said he has many orders for products from his small steel and aluminum factory, but power blackouts have hit production hard in Zimbabwe.

He uses a gasoline-powered generator when the power goes out, but this is expensive and has its limits.

“It cuts into profits because we add to our costs of doing business,” he said. “The generator cannot run forever; it has its prescribed running hours. We switch it on and off. In the process, our lead times are affected.”

This has been the case since he started his business about four years ago. But the latest outages have been longer — sometimes lasting 19 hours a day.

Along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia sits Lake Kariba, where low water levels have interrupted power supply to both countries. The world’s largest manmade lake by volume is on the Zambezi River, with hydroelectric power generators on both sides. Zimbabwe gets 70% of its power from Lake Kariba. But plunging water levels have worsened a yearslong power crisis — profoundly impacting the economy.

Below the Kariba dam wall, with Zambia border in the background.

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ish Mafundikwa/The World

And Tinarwo is not the only one impacted by the power outages. Zimbabwe’s many minerals include platinum, gold, chrome and lithium, and mining accounts for the bulk of Zimbabwe’s export earnings.

Collin Chibafa, president of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, said some 88% of the country's mines experience outages of as long as 12 hours.

He said some mining companies are now taking matters into their own hands by building solar plants.

“Obviously, those only work maybe four or five hours a day [that] we get peak production. Some of our members run diesel generators, but that's an expensive and the least-viable option. If you have people underground, they need ventilation, they need oxygen, it's really crucial that you can safely get people up from underground,” he said.

Households are not spared the inconvenience as power goes without prior notice. People with enough discretionary income may use generators, solar energy and inverters — but these options are beyond reach for the majority. Gas for cooking has become the go-to option for those who can afford it. For those who can’t, charcoal is readily available and affordable. And the sprawling, open-air market in Mbare, Harare's oldest working-class neighborhood, is the place to buy it.

Bags of charcoal at Mbare market in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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ish Mafundikwa/The World

Nyarai Mupesa, who has sold charcoal there for the past five years, said business is good whenever there is no power.

“When there are power cuts, sales are good, people need charcoal for cooking and to keep warm,” she said.

The problem is that charcoal, and the other low-cost option, kerosene, both contribute to deforestation and pollution. Chopping and burning trees for charcoal is illegal in Zimbabwe. But that has not stopped the practice. And most of the charcoal sold at Mbare is imported from Mozambique because, according to Mupesa, it is better quality.

“You pay the required duties and are issued with a receipt that enables you to get to Harare with your charcoal,” she explained.

Nyarai Mupesa prepares her charcoal for sale.

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ish Mafundikwa/The World

Besides the hydroelectric plant on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe's other main power source, the Hwange thermal power station is old and breaks down frequently. New units at the power plant are set to start generating power soon. But even if it and Kariba operate at capacity, they cannot meet Zimbabwe's power needs.

Energy expert Victor Utedzi runs a solar farm.

He sees renewable energy as a solution to Zimbabwe’s power problems. So does the government. In a bid to attract more local and private investors to set up solar and hydropower plants to sell to the national grid or direct to some consumers, the government recently announced new policies.

Solar water heaters are now standard features on new houses as well as some old houses in Zimbabwe.

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ish Mafundikwa/The World

“The government has given a guarantee that if the utility is unable to pay, the government will step in and make the payment. The government has also opened the space even further; they allow you to sell directly to some of the largest industrial and commercial clients in the country,” Utedzi said.

The government also imports power from neighboring countries but that doesn’t always work due to currency shortages.

Building another hydropower station upstream from Kariba is seen as the best hope for solving Zimbabwe's power woes. But two decades after it was proposed, no action has been taken.

Until it becomes a reality, the rolling blackouts will continue.

Australian Roberto D’Andrea, a guest conductor on a streetcar in Kolkata, India, wore the green uniform of a Melbourne “connie,” or tram conductor, as he punched tickets and called out the name of each stop.

D’Andrea, a retired tram conductor, was part of the festivities last month for the tramway’s 150th anniversary, also marked by cake, music and a parade of gaily decorated old trams, led by a 100-year-old green wooden car.

D’Andrea’s love of trams has brought him back to the city again and again since he first visited 30 years ago. The “ding ding ding” noise the streetcar made, said D’Andrea, who belongs to the Calcutta Tram Users Association , reminded him of the trams in Melbourne.

Australian Roberto D’Andrea, a guest conductor on a streetcar in Kolkata, India, wore the green uniform of a Melbourne “connie” or tram conductor as part of the festivities last month for the tramway’s 150th anniversary.

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Sandip Roy/The World

Melbourne and Kolkata have two of the longest-running tramways in the world.

But Kolkata’s tram system is limping along. It's down to just two lines, and despite a loyal band of supporters advocating for it, there is little political will, or room in the city's crowded streets, to bring the streetcars back to their former glory days.

Snehasis Chakrabarty, the West Bengal state transport minister, kicking off the celebrations, said that the trams face a lot of practical problems: Roads aren’t getting any wider and the number of cars on the street keeps rising.

A streetcar in Kolkata, India.

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Sandip Roy/The World

“We are not here to say goodbye to trams,” Chakrabarty said. “Although, it is not possible today to run[a] tram [on] every route in [the] Kolkata metropolitan city due to congestion.”

Kolkata has far less road space compared to other Indian cities like Mumbai. So, trams have to share the road with cars, trucks, rickshaws, buses, three-wheelers and millions of pedestrians.

Many old tram routes have also been taken over by buses and three-wheelers.

Ongoing construction of the underground metro railway system also disrupted old tram routes.

Kids ride a streetcar in Kolkata, India.

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Sandip Roy/The World

But the transport minister promised that trams will remain at least as a heritage ride for tourists.

Transport consultant Suvendu Seth, sitting in a bustling, new cafe in a tram depot, argued that trams should be for mass transport, not heritage.

“Why don’t we make those roads which are narrow for pedestrians and trams only? Why allow vehicles there?”

Many cities in Europe, Australia and the US got rid of streetcars during the automobile boom of the 1950s and ’60s, he said. Now, with a push toward sustainability and green transport, many cities are bringing streetcars back, often at great expense.

“And we had it all the time, and we are neglecting it,” Seth said. “That’s not a very nice thing. We should encourage it.”

Especially in a city where the air quality index is routinely over 200 during the winter months.

Art students paint a streetcar in Kolkata, India, for a celebration marking the tramway's 150th anniversary.

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Sandip Roy/The World

But there’s a misconception that trams “are from another century,” he said.

The double-bogeyed streetcars of Kolkata do feel old — they have not been updated in decades and rattle noisily down the middle of the street, sometimes losing the overhead electric connection.

But tram workers have not given up. During the anniversary event, a group of streetcar workers raised slogans demanding that more services be resumed.

The festivities last month for the tramway’s 150th anniversary in Kolkata, India, were marked by cake, music and a parade of gaily decorated old trams, led by a 100-year-old green wooden car.

Credit:

Sandip Roy/The World

One streetcar driver, Gopal Ram, reminisced about how his family had worked for the tramways for generations.

His great-grandfather, Antu Ram, worked on trams when it was still steam-powered. His grandfather, Mahavir Ram, and his father, Jagannath Ram, both spent their lives working on trams.

When Hindu-Muslim riots engulfed Kolkata in the 1940s, tram workers drove empty trams to restore confidence in a shattered city.

The tramway in Kolkata, India, turned 150 years old last month.

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Sandip Roy/The World

“My father, himself, helped save people from a mob,” Gopal Ram said.

Gopal Ram just retired after 39 years of service. He said that he sees no future in the trams of Kolkata. For Gopal Ram, it is the end of the line.

The turquoise waters of Lake Palcacocha are a beautiful sight to behold. On its northeastern edge, a huge glacier looms above the water, its white cliffs sparkling under the sun.

The lake is located 15,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains, near the Peruvian city of Huaraz.

As temperatures become warmer and ice sheets melt in the area, the lake has become increasingly dangerous due to its overflow potential. Palcacocha is one of dozens of lakes around the world that now pose a threat to towns and villages in mountain ranges like the Andes or the Himalayas.

“If a large chunk of ice breaks off from the glacier, and falls into the lake, it will empty the lake out and generate floods and avalanches downstream,” said Jesus Gomez, an expert on glaciers at Peru’s Institute for the Study of Mountainous Ecosystems.

“It’s hard to tell when something like that could happen, so we have to constantly monitor the area.”

The city of Huaraz is in a valley below Lake Palcacocha. Some of its neighborhoods have been built along a river that comes from the lake.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

The avalanche could easily reach Huaraz, a city of 100,000 people in a valley below, where several neighborhoods have been built along a river that comes from Lake Palcacocha.

“We are worried about what could happen,” said Teo Pineda, a driver who lives near the river in a three-story house. “This melting of the glaciers is already making the levels of the river go up.”

Teo Pineda lives in a house near the Qilcay River, which originates in Lake Palcacocha. He is one of 15 million people in the world who are exposed to Glacial Lake Outburst Floods.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

According to a study published in February by the Nature Communications journal, 15 million people around the world are currently exposed to floods originating in high-altitude glacial lakes. Scientists call these events glacial lake outburst floods, or GLOFs.

Most people currently exposed to GLOFs live along mountain ranges in China, India, Pakistan and Peru, where glaciers have been melting over the past century. The lakes that then form below them have also become bigger.

Another study published in Nature Communications in 2020 found that the total surface area of glacial lakes around the world increased by 51% between 1990 and 2018 — with hundreds of new lakes also being formed.

In Peru, Lake Palcacocha’s surface area has grown by 30 times since the 1970s as the glacier above it slowly melts.

The lake already burst in 1941, when heavy rains eroded the land around Palcacocha.

Around 10 million cubic meters of water — the equivalent of 4,000 Olympic swimming pools — spilled out of the lake and rushed towards Huaraz, creating a flood that destroyed almost every building in its path, killing 1,800 people.

“It's probably the largest volume of water ever to impact a major urban settlement in the world,” said Steven Wagner, an archeologist who lives in Huaraz, and wrote a book about the flooding.

“That large volume of water tumbled boulders that were two stories high, they rolled along [the mountain] and made an infernal sound.”
Preventing future disasters
To stop Lake Palcacocha from bursting again, officials in Huaraz built a dike on its southwest edge, where water flows out of the lake.

They also set up big, plastic tubes that siphon water out of the lake so its levels don’t rise.

Plastic tubes siphon water out of Lake Palcacocha so that its levels don't rise too drastically.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

Marlene Rosario oversees these projects financed by the regional government. But she said many more adaptations need to be carried out around the lake.

“The problem with just siphoning water out of the lake is that we are not preserving the water for future use,” she said.

Huaraz has plenty of water now. But if the glacier continues to retreat, that water could become polluted, because it will come into contact with toxic minerals.

“Eventually, we will need to build reservoirs and treatment plants below the lake,” Rosario said.
Holding the polluters accountable
Some people in Huarez say that those who are responsible for climate change should help pay for these adaptations.

Lake Palcacocha has long served as a water source for the city and surrounding villages. People hope these adjustments will preserve the lake and no longer threaten the city's survival.

Plastic tubes siphon water out of Lake Palcacocha in Peru to keep its levels in check.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

In 2017, mountaineering guide Saul Lliuya teamed up with German Watch, an environmental group, to sue RWE, a German energy company.

RWE made electricity for decades in Europe by burning massive amounts of coal. The company is now phasing out its coal-fueled power plants, but a 2013 climate study claims that it is responsible for half of a percent of global emissions since the 19th century.

“I have seen firsthand how the glaciers are melting because of climate change,” Lliuya said at his home in Huaraz.

“And we need to [hold] companies that are responsible for that accountable.”

As glaciers melt in different parts of the world, they are more likely to cause floods in mountainous areas.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

Lliuya’s lawsuit says RWE should pay for 0.5% of the costs of flood prevention programs in Huaraz, or what amounts to around $20,000 dollars. The case is currently being reviewed by a German court.

“If we put some pressure on those who emit greenhouse gasses, perhaps they will have to change their practices,” he added.

“We are not going to recover all the damage that’s been done, but at least we can stop this kind of pollution in the future.”

Related: Protests across Peru are keeping tourists away from the country’s top travel destinations

Guyana has discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of offshore crude reserves, and the country is hoping that oil can help transform its economy and offset its ongoing poverty crisis.

The South American country is readying itself for its next round of oil auctions in April, with all the major oil companies expected to bid. Exxon Mobil Corp. is already heavily involved and has been since the late '90s when offshore exploration there began.

But what might sound like striking gold may not actually be the case. With agreements that 75% of oil revenue belongs to Exxon and partners, little is expected to reach citizens.

Lack of major oil gains are not foreign to South America; since 1980, countries in the region reap short-term gains but tend to be worse off in the long run.

Citizens have polarized opinions on the discovery with some rallying behind oil extraction in hopes of a soaring economy and new jobs. Others remain wary of the environmental drawbacks and risks of catastrophic oil spills.

While oil companies are seeking opportunities, climate-change activists are concerned . Guyana has thus far been hailed as a world leader on climate change.

The discovery means a potential release of millions of tons of greenhouse gases from a climate globally known for absorbing millions of carbon emissions each year.

Amy Westervelt is a journalist and host of “Drilled,” a true-crime podcast that looks at climate change — it's focusing on Guyana this season.

“It's worth noting that since 1980, no 'global south' country that's gotten into the oil business has ended up better off for it, not one,” Westervelt said. “So, it has this tendency to kind of bring short-term gains and ultimately, leave countries worse off or, at best, about the same as they were before oil.”

She shared some images with The World from around Guyana’s capital, Georgetown.

The Guyana Shop was put together by the attorney general and business boards to help small food businesses in Guyana package and sell their wares.

Credit:

Courtesy of Amy Westervelt


The Stabroek Market is a farmers market in Georgetown, Guyana.

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Courtesy of Amy Westervelt


A canal in Georgetown, Guyana. Citizens have polarized opinions, with some rallying behind oil extraction in hopes of a better economy and others remaining wary of the environmental drawbacks and risks of catastrophic oil spills.

Credit:

Courtesy of Amy Westervelt


Guyana is hoping that newly discovered offshore crude reserves can help transform the country's economy and offset its ongoing poverty crisis.

Credit:

Courtesy of Amy Westervelt


Guyana has thus far been hailed as a world leader on climate change, but new plans for extracting oil has environmental activists concerned.

Credit:

Courtesy of Amy Westervelt

At Monster Project Kitchen in Soweto, South Africa, the staff prepare daily for the power to go off, switching off the music and lights and readying the gas stoves.

“Load-shedding affects us very badly,” said Fana Khumalo, who runs the restaurant, along with a number of other businesses in Orlando East, a part of South Africa’s biggest township, Soweto.

The lights may be off, but crisis mode is definitely switched on in South Africa. Despite a national state of disaster and a new minister of electricity, scheduled power outages — known as load-shedding — are heavily impacting ordinary citizens.

Businessman Fana Khumalo stands in front of Monster Project Kitchen and talks with staff in Orlando East, Soweto, Johannesburg.

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Elna Shütz/The World

The average American might experience about 7 hours without electricity a year, mostly due to major weather events like hurricanes and snowstorms. But for South Africans, who have endured daily blackouts for the last four years, this is the norm.

Power gets switched off according to a particular area on a scheduled basis, in stages. For instance, at stage six, 6,000 megawatts are taken from the national grid, meaning lights out for about 9 hours a day. The government implemented load-shedding for about 43% of last year.

In mid-February, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster to respond to the electricity crisis, granting the government broader powers, like exempting critical infrastructure from load-shedding. It also allowed for new electricity producers to skip through environmental regulations and unlock extra finances.

Employees of Monster Project Kitchen prepare cow’s heart and other traditional South African foods over gas during scheduled power cuts.

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Elna Schutz/The World

They also established a new transitory Ministry of Electricity, led by Kgosientsho “Sputla'' Ramokgopa, the new minister , who has a background in civil engineering. He hopes to end load-shedding, he said, but cautioned South Africans to be patient.
'We serve our people'
People like Khumalo feel the pressure on a daily basis. The kitchen is tucked off a busy road and serves food to up to 100 people a day.

“With traditional food, you need to prepare it in the morning, because you have to cook it for long hours,” he said.

One of their main dishes is cow heart, served alongside a stiff, staple maize porridge pap, usually shared and eaten by hand.

“Pap and mogodo, pap and heart, liver, and cow head. That's what we do. We cook here, we serve our people, we have a sit in, or you can do a takeaway.”

Employees of Monster Project Kitchen prepare cow’s heart and other traditional South African foods over gas during scheduled power cuts.

Credit:

Elna Shütz/The World

Khumalo said they have become used to working on a schedule and will get by — but it’s been hard.

“You lose customers, because sometimes when they come in, there is no gas as a backup,” he said. “So, we lose money in that way.”

His businesses have also had to let go of staff and deal with excess stock. “We eat the food, what can we do? Or we give it to the orphans in the neighborhood or we share it with our friends.”

Businessman Fana Khumalo stands in front of Monster Project Kitchen in Orlando East, Soweto, Johannesburg.

Credit:

Elna Shütz/The World

He feels that the government is failing ordinary South Africans and small businesses. Khumalo said he worries about corruption and that too many people in power are making decisions that only serve their interests.

“You are working on a break-even point just to keep the business going, just to think that maybe things will be better, the load-shedding will be over, so that we can go back to business normally, and give people the service that we’ve always given them.”

An eatery next door to Monster Kitchen Project in Soweto, South Africa.

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Elna Shütz/The World

Of course, these problems didn’t happen overnight. Since 2007 , there have been increasing bouts of load-shedding for a few months at a time, often because of compromised or failing infrastructure.

Independent energy analyst Clyde Mallinson said that a few decades ago, the country had a surplus of coal-powered electricity, based in part on Apartheid-era sanctions.

“So, what's actually happened is the coal fleet has deteriorated faster than they thought it would and we haven't put a new generation in place at a rate that can take over the job of what the coal fleet has been doing.”

He said that the current working capacity of about 100 coal-fired power production units is closer to about 40 units.

A coal truck, right, passes the coal-powered Duvha power station, near Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) east of Johannesburg, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. South Africa's ever-worsening power crisis, in which homes and businesses go without electricity for up to 10 hours per day, is strangling Africa's most developed economy.

Credit:

Denis Farrell/AP/File

“So, we really, really are in big trouble at the moment, we've run out of time,” Mallinson said.

He warns that there’s looming electricity inequality ahead.

“The economic engine of the country is in small-to-medium-sized business operations in all of the towns and cities. And it's those that are bleeding at the moment, by virtue of not being able to have electricity or have money to backup,” he said, adding that the rest of the population has to pick up the load of “very expensive, very dirty electricity coming from a gasping, dying utility.”

The government’s current Energy Action Plan includes new, renewable energy, more imported power and improved existing power plants. The different scenarios place the end of load-shedding anywhere between a few months to a few years.

For now, load-shedding continues, and with it, the resilience of South Africans to adapt.

The sun isn’t fully up, but Pedro Salas Díaz is already hard at work carrying 100-pound sacks of salt down the hillside to be stored for sale. He navigates his way along the rock walls that separate hundreds of small pools that have been here for centuries.

Salas Díaz is only 23, but he’s been working here for the majority of his life.

“This has been passed down from generation to generation,” he said. “From my grandfather, to my father and now, me.”

But here in this Oaxacan town of Zapotitlan Salinas, migration and climate change may spell the end of salt farming in Mexico.

Pedro Salas Díaz has worked as a salt farmer most of his life in a tradition passed down for generations.

Credit:

Michael Fox/The World

Salas Díaz works alongside his father as one of the youngest in a group of less than 100 traditional salt farmers left here.

Visiting this salt farm is like stepping back in time. Even the salt-makers don’t know how many hundreds of years ago the stairs and the rock walls of the mineral springs were built.

Their salt farming technique has remained roughly the same for generations.

They use the spring water to fill the salt pools. It can take two months of watering, washing, rewashing, and breaking up the crystals, for each pool to produce a few hundred pounds of salt.

The mineral spring near the Oaxacan town of Zapotitlan Salinas.

Credit:

Michael Fox/The World

Back before industrialized production, the salt here was a coveted commodity that Indigenous people called “white gold.” Popoloca peoples produced and traded it widely long before the arrival of the Spanish.

Those days are over, but it’s still a huge source of pride for the local community.

“It’s our identity,” local tour guide Leonardo Noé said.

“Our town is named Zapotitlán Salinas, or Zapotitlán 'of the salt farms.' It’s our unique identity and puts us on the map.”

But still, Noé said, many youth are leaving in search of easier, better-paying jobs elsewhere. Many have migrated to the United States.

"We need to incorporate more youth, and more people who want to learn the skill of being a salt farmer," he said.

Pedro Salas Díaz and his dad work on the salt farms that their family has done for generations.

Credit:

Michael Fox/The World

In town, huge baskets holding bags of salt sit outside the shop of resident Marcelo Salas.

“When I opened this store, the first thing I wanted to do was sell this salt, because it’s part of our culture,” Salas said. “We sell about a ton of it a week.”

Across the street, Maria del Carmen Cruzalas owns and runs a taco shop.

"We are the children of salt farmers,” she said. “And there is a huge difference between refined salt and the salt we produce here. Our salt gives another flavor to the meat and sauces."

Their salt is also good for one's health. A recent study from the nearby Tehuacán Technological University found that it has 65% less sodium and is rich with 200 minerals.

That’s because this whole region used to be underwater. The ancient sea left behind salt and minerals, which the rains collect when they fall during the summer months — and replenish the mineral springs that feed the salt farms.

Migration and climate change may spell the end of salt farming in the Oaxacan town of Zapotitlan Salinas.

Credit:

Michael Fox/The World

But farmer Pedro Salas Díaz said those springs aren’t filling up like they used to, and he’s concerned for the future.

"With climate change, there are times when it’s not supposed to rain and it does, and times when it’s supposed to rain, when it doesn’t. It is very concerning,” he said.

Pedro Salas Díaz, 23, has worked as a salt farmer most of his life.

Credit:

Michael Fox/The World

Salt farmers here need the summer rains to fill the springs, but a rain during the dry season, right now, could ruin months of work.

But Díaz said they will weather the storm. And when his toddler son is ready, he’ll be bringing him along, too — teaching him the trade that he learned from his father and his grandfather before him.

In Villa de Leyva, Colombia, dozens of people lined up this past weekend during the 26th-annual Astronomy Festival to look at the stars through giant telescopes set up in the town's colonial-era square.

This Andes town's dry weather makes it one of the best spots in the country to go stargazing — drawing around 5,000 people to its festival every year.

“This is really cool,” said Valentina Galvis, an eighth-grade student who attended the festival with her family. “You can talk to people who know about the stars, and they’re very eager to share their knowledge.”

Every year, about 5,000 people attend Villa de Leyva's Astronomy Festival, which is held in the town's colonial-era square.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

Across the globe, cities have become a lot brighter. Suburban sprawl and urban skyscrapers, some lit with neon lights, make it harder to see the stars. But some places, like Villa de Leyva, are now trying to dim their lights in the hopes of promoting positive health benefits for locals while also attracting more visitors.

The popularity of the annual three-day festival has encouraged organizers to push for lasting improvements for the town. They’re working with the local government to modify Villa de Leyva’s streetlights so that it's easier to see the night sky.

“What we really want is to defend the right of all humans to see the stars.”

Diana Rojas, director of the Astronomy Festival
“What we really want is to defend the right of all humans to see the stars,” said Diana Rojas, the festival’s director. “So, we have to teach people about the importance of preserving dark skies and ask our governments to be smarter about artificial lighting.”

The Belt of Orion constellation, as seen from Villa de Leyva's central square.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

Villa de Leyva has a population of 20,000 and is currently trying to get certified by the Starlight Foundation , an organization that runs a list of the world’s best stargazing destinations. Among the town’s plans is to change the direction of its streetlights so that they only point downward. And it is also planning to use light bulbs with lower-colored temperatures that emit softer lighting.

With tourism being one of Villa de Leyva’s main industries, Mayor Josue Castellanos hopes the certification will attract more people.

During the day, experts calibrate their telescopes at the Astronomy Festival and place special filters on them, so that visitors can also watch the sun, Villa de Leyva, Colombia.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

A growing number of enthusiasts are among the younger generations.

“Children love astronomy, and our festival attracts many families,” Castellanos said. “So, we want to keep our skies dark and turn that into another attraction.”

Third grader Andres Camilo Morales from Bogotá looked at the sky through a white telescope as he shared his excitement.

“It’s so much easier here to see the beautiful stars,” Morales said. “There’s so many people here doing this, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Third grader Andres Camilo Morales looks at the Orion nebula through a telescope placed in Villa de Leyva's central square.

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Manuel Rueda/The World

Health benefits
Managing artificial lighting also has health benefits.

Studies have shown that the excess of artificial lighting, known as light pollution , can be bad for humans .

“When we sleep in the dark, we produce a hormone called melatonin,” said Cristian Goez, an astronomy professor from Bogotá. “But if we are exposed to too much artificial lighting, melatonin production decreases, and that can generate diseases.”

And Goez said that he hopes starlight certification for Villa de Leyva could also prompt other towns across Colombia to tackle their own light pollution.

To make the stars more viewable, the Andes town of Villa de Leyva plans to change its streetlights, so that they only point downward, and use light bulbs with warmer color temperatures.

Credit:

Manuel Rueda/The World

Syria has become a pariah state under the government of President Bashar al-Assad. He's been accused of gassing his own civilians , and bombing hospitals and schools.

But the catastrophic earthquake that hit northwestern Syria last week is opening some doors.

Arab leaders who once shunned him are reaching out with aid, and assistance from the United Nations is trickling in. It took seven days for the UN to strike a deal with Syria to open two additional border crossings into the region.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council meeting on the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, at United Nations headquarters.

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John Minchillo/AP

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield addressed the underlying reason for the delay in a conversation with The World's host Marco Werman.

"I wouldn't put the blame on the UN," Thomas-Greenfield said.

"The US made very clear on day one that we would provide assistance directly to the Syrian people through any means possible. Where the blame lies [is] with the Syrian government. They took seven days to reopen the border. NGOs, the UN, donors were all working desperately to get assistance to the people of Syria. It is the Syrian government, the Assad regime, that let the Syrian people down."

Marco Werman: How nimble is the UN, though, when it comes to dealing with the Assad government and really pushing to deal directly with civilians who are in harm's way?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield: They clearly are not as nimble as we would have wanted them to be. But I know that they were making every effort possible to get through to the government and to try to provide assistance to the Syrian people. And NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] were there, local NGOs, I spoke to, on probably day two. I started a series of conversations with NGOs on the ground. I spoke to the White Helmets, I spoke to several international NGOs, and they were working around the clock to get support directly into Syria. But it was hard. It was absolutely very, very hard. And I welcome the delayed Syrian decision to open the border, and we're monitoring that situation very closely. The UN briefed us yesterday that trucks are moving through the border. But I actually still think we need a resolution, because we can't rely on on Assad's whims. He may decide to close the border tomorrow. So, we need the confidence that the border can remain open through a UN resolution that allows for the UN to continue to work directly with the Syrian people.

Ambassador, is there a scenario here where Bashar al-Assad can use this crisis to start to shed his pariah status? Because there are some analysts who say sanctions might be eased and the international community might begin supporting Syria's reconstruction. How concerned are you by that scenario?

What Assad has done in Syria can never, ever be forgotten. And while we have, on day one, made sure that we issued licenses that would allow for humanitarian assistance to go in, for humanitarian agencies to continue to work in Syria, we're not removing Assad and the people who supported his terror off of sanctions — he cannot use this disaster to clean up his horrible reputation as it relates to the Syrian people.

What will be done to keep that from happening?

Well, first and foremost, we're not going to allow that to happen. And I don't think the Syrian people will allow it to happen. The Syrian people are not going to forget what Assad did. He killed his own people. He used chemical weapons against his own people. That said, we're going to do everything we can to support all Syrian people who've been affected by this horrific earthquake to ensure that they get the assistance that they need. Assad can't clean up his act with a natural disaster.

This interview was lightly edited and condensed for clarity.