Can AI stop mass fish deaths on Lake Victoria?

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.

The Regreening Sudbury Project transformed a lunar-like wasteland into thriving forest through decades of systematic tree planting (10+ million trees), soil amendments, and transparent open-data tracking. This resulted in a 98% reduction in air pollution and 50% recovery of fish populations while creating a replicable model for ecological restoration.

Environmental refugees in Ethiopia flee their country because there are no jobs without healthy land. A group of former refugees have returned to Ethiopia with a business venture in Gergera to improve the land by regreening efforts, foresting, and building water conservation systems. The new businesses demonstrated such positive effects that the region is now on the brink of resettlement due to improved environmental conditions.

The U.S. government has developed different sensors for irrigation devices that gauge water demand and help conserve use. as water shortages caused by drought have increased across the globe, and farmers are faced with economic burdens, such technology is focusin on sustainability for the future.

Solar-powered irrigation allows women in Gella to farm during the dry season, enabling multiple harvests per year that provide food security, income, and social connection while increasing women's economic agency in a post-conflict community.

Arvin-Edison Water Storage District has spent decades diverting imported river water into spreading ponds to recharge its aquifer for later pumping, a strategy credited with helping halt past groundwater declines and raise levels over time.

El Paso pecan farmers are implementing innovative water conservation techniques—including cover crops, polymer soil treatments, and improved tillage practices—that are showing promising results in reducing water usage and salt buildup, with cover crops alone reducing weed populations by 80-90% while creating cooler, more moisture-retentive soil conditions that help orchards survive in increasingly drought-prone conditions.

New solar-powered irrigation systems in the Chotanagpur Plateau region in India are giving farmers more dependable water and allowing them to diversify their crops, allowing them to also grow their income. Many farmers from a local village used to migrate to other places to search for work, but a new irrigation system has allowed them to grow cauliflower for a competitive price. While the cost of buying and installing a solar-powered irrigation system can be high, this form of irrigation could be more climate-friendly and help stabilize crop production.

Climate change has led to shorter, more violent rainy seasons in the highlands around Lima, Peru, meaning that - even though there is theoretically enough water during the rainy season to sustain the local population, it flows downhill too quickly, leaving residents short of clean water during the dry season. Now, an organization called Condesan is helping the community to restore ancient stone canals from the seventh century that will help to store water from rainfall through the dry season and supply residents with a steady water source.

In Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council was formed after a severe drought to bring together federal, state and regional governments and bridge parochial concerns. It was meant to manage the basin as a whole and end overuse and salinization of farm land, leveraging new technologies to adapt to new realities.