A window into what we’re reading in the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Mexico’s Mercury Boom is Poisoning People and the Environment (Associated Press)

In Mexico’s Sierra Gorda mountains, soaring international gold prices also have created a mercury boom. Since 2011, mercury prices have skyrocketed from $20 per kilogram to between $240 and $350 per kilogram today. Most of Mexico’s mercury is trafficked to Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru for use in illegal Amazon gold mining operations that contaminate rivers and ecosystems. Yet the country’s adoption of a 2017 UN convention banning mercury mining and exports also allows artisanal mines to operate until 2032.

Approximately 3,000 people living in the Sierra Gorda region depend on mercury mining for their livelihood by extracting toxic metal from cinnabar ore using dangerous artisanal methods. These methods have left this landscape as the most contaminated place in Mexico, as mercury contamination affects sediment, trees, and local communities. Miners also report that promises of transitional financial assistance and job training have fallen short, and they fear that mine closures will push the industry into control of criminal groups.

READ | Fair Trade Seeks a Foothold in Artisanal Gold Mining

Labor Rights Abuses Aboard China’s Fishing Fleets Linked to US Seafood Imports (Washington Post)

An Environmental Justice Foundation investigation has found severe human rights violations in the practices of China’s massive distant water fishing fleet. Crew members operating in waters offshore of Argentina report conditions that include physical violence, forced work exceeding 14 hours daily, confiscated identity documents, and withheld wages. In particular, physical violence (including deaths) have occurred on 29 Chinese vessels, or two-third of the ships identified in the report.

These labor rights abuses increasingly are linked to seafood served in Europe and the United States. Between 2019 and 2024, China’s squid fishing fleet doubled its fishing hours in unregulated South America waters, thus accounting for one-third of global squid catches. The investigation identified 187 buyers or importers of seafood that are connected to vessels involved in abuse or worker deaths, with nearly 45% of them based in the United States.

READ | Tackling Scarcity and Building Security: A Response to IUU Fishing

Climate Change Disrupts Water Conditions in Two-Thirds of Global River Basins (The Guardian)

As temperatures rose to 1.55°C above preindustrial levels, 2024 became the hottest year on record. The impact of this heat was reflected in water supply as well, as only one-third of the world’s river basins experienced normal conditions. New research from the World Meteorological Organization finds that climate change drove unprecedented extremes of both drought and flooding in 2024. The Amazon basin suffered severe drought from July to September, while, simultaneously, other parts of South America including southern Brazil experienced devastating floods. It is an illustration of how a wide variance of climate-driven crises are felt across the same regions.

The disrupted water cycle of 2024 wreaked havoc across the globe. Central Europe, Russia, Pakistan, and northern India were hit by destructive deluges, while drought afflicted North America, southern and southeastern Africa, and Mexico. Scientists warn that water instability also is driving the conditions of food scarcity, crop failures, rising prices, and regional tensions that trigger migration. Governments have failed to invest adequately in preparations for these crises, despite the fact that experts argue that proactive investments carry lower costs than reactive responses to future disasters.

READ | The Unpredictability of Climate Impacts on River Flows, and the Need for Disaster Aid Reform