There are lots of questions for 2014. After another round of devastating natural disasters, is this the year we pin down a definition of the much-ballyhooed concept of resilience? What about “women’s empowerment?” In Africa, will there be signs of accelerating demographic transitions? Will China solve its water-energy choke point? And can other countries too balance natural resource extraction and climate change adaptation with equitable development?

In what’s becoming a trend, another set of devastating natural disasters made headlines in 2013. Typhoon Haiyan enveloped the Philippines in November while the world watched online, and less publicized but just as traumatic, flash flooding in India this summer killed thousands of pilgrims making their way up Himalayan river valleys.

Rates of species extinction are so high that some scientists have categorized the current era as Earth’s sixth mass extinction event. In last month’s most popular post, Kathleen Mogelgaard explains that a new study indicates, of all the human factors related to this biodiversity loss, population growth and density may be the strongest. Popular new additions also include a review of former Wilson Center Fellow Jeff Colgan’s Petro-Aggression; the launch of research on urbanization, demography, and climate change adaptation; the UN Foundation’s Alaka Basu on Friday Podcasts talking about re-thinking women’s empowerment; and a brief from the China Environment Forum on China’s distant water fishing fleets.

“We are coming up with solutions. That’s the story here – the resilience, not the vulnerability,” Saleemul Huq told us last month. Jacob Glass’s interview with Huq – later transcribed in full – was part of a look at Bangladesh’s budding aquaculture sector and one of the most popular new articles last month. Joining it were other newcomers, on storytelling and influencing policy; the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference; Africa’s nexus of demography, environment, and security challenges; and 10 recommendations for the population, health, and environment (PHE) community from the BALANCED Project, as they finish five years of global programming.

Environmental security and population dynamics dominated September’s most popular stories. New guest posts on peacebuilding and natural resources in Afghanistan and climate change and conflict accompanied the launch of the latest issue of ECSP Report 14, on food security. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen’s posts on aging and the second demographic dividend, growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and the latest UN updates to world population projections continued strong.

August brought new blood to the blog: 7 of the 10 most popular posts (by unique pageviews) last month were new. ECSP Director Roger-Mark De Souza appeared in a documentary about climate change adaptation in Trinidad and Tobago; the China Environment Forum’s Susan Chan Shifflett posted a stunning photo essay of her trip to the Wuhai City coal complex; and we had two stories on India’s climate change challenges, including one from a visiting West Point cadet. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen and Kathleen Mogelgaard continued their analyses of recent demographic surveys, examining faster-than-expected growth in “Feed the Future” focus countries and why the demographic transition has stalled in sub-Saharan Africa.

June and July are traditionally slow in Washington, but not this year: ECSP and GHI hosted several big events at the Wilson Center, Roger-Mark traveled to the ICPD Human Rights Conference, and the UN released new population projections – coverage of which all made the top 10 most popular posts last month. Also joining the top 10 were two posts from the China Environment Forum and a cross-post from ChinaDialogue. Clearly China’s natural resource and climate change challenges are the minds of many. The final newcomer is Elizabeth L. Chalecki’s preview of her new primer on environmental security.

The UN released their biennial revisions to global population projections last month, revising their medium variant, mid-century estimates up by 250 million people. Kathleen Mogelgaard writes that, if a new IFPRI report is anything to go by, these projections may start playing a more prominent role in food security assessments.