In our most read post of the month, Adilsonio da Costa outlines the environmental and livelihood risks Timor-Leste citizens face if the government and proponents of a petroleum infrastructure project do not implement environmental protections and follow Timor-Leste’s environmental laws, and dismiss affected communities while continuing to build the project.

In November, New Security Beat launched a new series, “Uncharted Territory: The Next 25 Years of Environment, Health, and Security.” In the most read post of November, Kayly Ober’s contribution to the special series offers creative policy solutions to the climate migration debate.

In September and October, the Maternal Health Initiative grabbed the No. 1 spot as Nazra Amin took a look into one of the world’s largest brothels in the village of Daulatdia, Bangladesh. She examined the legality of sex work in Bangladesh, maternal mortality, and barriers to health services among sex workers.

In August’s most-read post, Nathanial Matthews explains how globally, most water infrastructure isn’t designed to meet the demands of a changing climate. Matthews showcases highlights from a new report, Wellspring: Source Water Resilience and Climate Adaptation, which explores innovative approaches to source water protection in the context of a changing climate. The complications of a changing climate are not always so clear, especially its connection to armed conflict. Our fourth most popular post, by Cullen Hendrix and John O’Loughlin, shares the results of a study that aimed to provide a consensus regarding climate-conflict links.

In the top read post for July, Marisa O. Ensor offers the case for using “Positive Peace” as a framework for analyzing the resilience of countries and communities suffering from climate stress and resource challenges. The 2019 Global Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, factors climate change into its assessments and finds that climate change and resource availability can create or exacerbate tensions, but they can also be a source for cooperation.

Two of June’s top posts related to conflict and the well-being of a country’s population. In our most-read post this past month, Matt Luizza investigates herder-farmer conflict in Africa’s Sudano-Sahel and urban elites’ increasing militarization of transhumance, the practice of moving livestock seasonally to access available pastures and water. In our third most popular post this month, Wim Zwijnenburg discusses the importance of protecting civilians by protecting the environment during armed conflicts.

Sustainable solutions for Chinese communities featured in two of our top posts for May. In the top post, Karen Mancl digs into the soil quality of Chinese farmland. Conservation agriculture mixes ancient farming practices with new technology to reclaim and restore land disturbed by construction and intense industrial farming. Mancl features in our list again with her piece focusing on the potential of sand bioreactors to be an affordable, right-sized alternative to mechanical wastewater treatment plants for rural China villages.

In April’s top post, Sarah Glaser and Cullen Hendrix find that a mostly domestic armed conflict involving Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army increased competition over Nile perch among fisherfolk, which created tensions between Kenya and Uganda.