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
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
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
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
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
Foreign pharmaceutical companies patent compounds derived from traditional Asian herbal knowledge without benefit-sharing agreements with native communities.
society-governance
asia
india
traditional
haven
protected
indigenous
intellectual
property
rights
over
medicinal
plant
global-unspecified
climate-environment
african
philosophy-ethics
whether
open
United Arab Emirates, Asia
Extensive glass and concrete urban architecture in Gulf cities amplifies localized heat, driving unsustainable peak air conditioning power demand.
climate-environment
asia
united-arab-emirates
urban
heat
cities
haven
prevented
islands
accelerating
cooling
energy
consumption
global-unspecified
african
water
systems
Artisanal gold miners use liquid mercury to extract gold, discharging toxic heavy metals into river systems and causing severe neurological damage.
mathematics-logic
asia
indonesia
gold
mercury
artisanal
haven
eliminated
exposure
informal
mining
communities
miners
climate-environment
global-unspecified
way
philosophy-ethics
whether
Drying lakebeds like the Aral Sea release toxic salt and pesticide dust that spreads across borders, ruining farmland without joint regional land restoration.
local-regional
asia
uzbekistan
regional
dust
haven
established
transboundary
storm
mitigation
agreements
central
global-unspecified
climate-environment
african
africa
remains
Major Asian cities lose up to 40% of treated drinking water to underground pipe leaks before it ever reaches consumers.
local-regional
asia
philippines
water
pipe
haven
automated
real-time
leakage
detection
aging
urban
municipal
climate-environment
global-unspecified
cities
african
whether
Reclamation projects for industrial zones destroy carbon-dense mangrove habitats, turning critical carbon sinks into massive emission sources.
climate-environment
asia
vietnam
mangrove
carbon
sinks
haven
stopped
loss
due
commercial
infrastructure
expansion
global-unspecified
whether
philosophy-ethics
degraded
mathematics-logic
Aging urban populations face housing options designed for traditional multi-generational families rather than accessible, assisted independent living.
social-civic-problems
asia
japan
accessible
housing
urban
haven
created
public
models
rapidly
growing
elderly
global-unspecified
african
climate-environment
cities
aging
Smallholder farmers growing organic cash crops face export rejections because synthetic chemicals spray-drift from neighboring non-organic farms.
climate-environment
asia
sri-lanka
non-organic
haven
stopped
agricultural
pesticide
drift
contaminating
adjacent
tea
spice
farmers
smallholder
fair
connecting
local-regional
A vast majority of ocean plastic originates from major river systems; current cleanup solutions lack capacity to filter heavy river flows during monsoons.
climate-environment
asia
thailand
river
ocean
systems
plastic
haven
deployed
efficient
cleaning
capture
pollution
society-governance
solutions
technology-computing
mathematics-logic
real
