Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
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4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
Encroachment on natural urban drainage lakes leaves rainwater with nowhere to sink, causing severe flash flooding that shuts down entire economic centers.
economics-resources
asia
india
flash
urban
flooding
natural
haven
solved
catastrophic
caused
total
loss
climate-environment
global-unspecified
cities
systems
african
Low-income urban districts across seismic fault lines consist of unreinforced concrete block buildings highly susceptible to collapse during major earthquakes.
local-regional
asia
nepal
buildings
earthquakes
haven
retrofitted
millions
vulnerable
non-engineered
masonry
against
high-magnitude
urban
climate-environment
architectural
innovations
high
Municipal transport authorities lack upfront capital to purchase electric buses and build high-voltage charging depots, prolonging diesel air pollution.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
air-pollution
electric
haven
transition-funded
fossil
fuel
bus
fleets
zero-emission
transit
networks
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
Narrow alleys prevent traditional fire trucks from entering slum communities, where electrical short circuits frequently ignite massive, uncontrolled fires.
economics-resources
asia
bangladesh
informal
fire
haven
secured
safety
infrastructure
densely
packed
urban
settlements
society-governance
systems
technology-computing
african
global-unspecified
The rapid adoption of electric rickshaws and scooters creates a massive wave of end-of-life batteries that are dumped in open landfills due to lack of local recycling facilities.
climate-environment
asia
india
recycling
batteries
electric
haven
built
scalable
infrastructure
spent
lithium-ion
two
global-unspecified
waste
systems
management
solved
Informal foundries produce cheap cooking pots from scrap aluminum contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic, which leach into daily meals.
climate-environment
asia
afghanistan
haven
regulated
hazardous
heavy
metals
domestic
food
preparation
cookware
informal
eliminated
urban
economics-resources
groundwater
waste
High consumer demand for cheap apparel drives subcontracted garment dye houses to bypass effluent treatment to maintain razor-thin profit margins.
economics-resources
asia
cambodia
haven
eliminated
fast-fashion
textile
sludge
dumping
suburban
waterways
high
consumer
climate-environment
water
global-unspecified
solved
make
Anerobic decomposition in flooded rice paddies is a massive source of global methane, but farmers lack incentives and technical training to adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) techniques.
climate-environment
asia
vietnam
methane
rice
haven
quantified
emissions
leaking
expanding
paddy
cultivations
under
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
technologies
continuous
Standard crop insurance relies on slow physical damage assessments. Satellite-triggered parametric insurance models are not yet calibrated for micro-climate variations.
climate-environment
asia
india
insurance
parametric
haven
built
coverage
smallholder
farmers
against
unseasonal
localized
products
global-unspecified
crop
whether
african
Inconsistent meteorology data sharing between neighboring nations delays mass evacuation orders during rapidly intensifying Category 5 tropical cyclones.
local-regional
asia
philippines
haven
established
regional
transboundary
early-warning
networks
super-typhoons
moving
southeast
data
global-unspecified
technology-computing
african
society-governance
limited
Drained peat soils ignite during dry El Niño years, creating subterranean fires that burn for months, releasing enormous carbon emissions and toxic transboundary haze.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
carbon-emissions
carbon
haven
secured
peatland
fire
suppression
networks
stop
annual
catastrophic
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
Rising sea surface temperatures trigger massive coral bleaching, threatening marine biodiversity hot-spots that support the livelihoods of millions of coastal residents.
climate-environment
asia
indonesia
biodiversity
coral
bleaching
marine
haven
arrested
events
caused
localized
heatwaves
triangle
near
protecting
coastal
global-unspecified
High concentrations of plastic runoff degrade into microplastics that enter pelagic fish species, posing bioaccumulation risks for human consumers.
climate-environment
asia
china
haven
stopped
marine
microplastic
ingestion
commercial
fisheries
major
estuarine
zones
global-unspecified
prevent
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
Bright coastal lights and sea-wall construction disrupt endangered sea turtle egg-laying beaches, causing steep declines in hatchling survival rates.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
sea
turtle
coastal
haven
mitigated
nesting
ground
destruction
caused
tourism
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
whether
way
mathematics-logic
Highways and railway lines cutting through elephant migration corridors trigger frequent violent encounters, destroying crops and causing loss of human and elephant lives.
social-civic-problems
asia
india
corridors
haven
mitigated
human-elephant
conflicts
caused
linear
infrastructure
fracturing
wildlife
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
whether
have
loss
Fast-spreading invasive flora species overrun degraded forest floors, preventing natural regeneration of indigenous tree canopy species.
climate-environment
asia
malaysia
biodiversity
species
invasive
forest
haven
contained
plant
choking
native
primary
global-unspecified
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
prevent
have
Lax enforcement and local corruption allow illicit logging cartels to extract high-value hardwood trees from remote protected areas.
society-governance
asia
myanmar
parks
protected
haven
eliminated
illegal
timber
poaching
national
under
paper
global-unspecified
logging
whether
science-space
remote
Centralized national identity databases lack modern cybersecurity protocols, exposing millions of citizens' biometric data to commercial misuse and state surveillance.
technology-computing
asia
india
cybersecurity
data
identity
haven
secured
civil
registration
systems
unauthorized
access
theft
society-governance
global-unspecified
whether
without
Millions of pre-trial detainees languish in overcrowded prisons for years due to acute judicial vacancy rates and outdated paper-based case management.
society-governance
asia
pakistan
judicial
case
haven
sped
extreme
backlogs
lower-court
legal
systems
millions
technology-computing
global-unspecified
whether
grievance
philosophy-ethics
Developing Asian countries spend more on servicing foreign debt than on climate adaptation. International financial institutions have not scaled debt swaps effectively.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
debt
asian
haven
created
debt-for-climate
swap
mechanisms
significantly
relieve
sovereign
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
