Environment

Why a megacity in India is reviving the humble water well

Environment

In the Indian tech hub of Bengaluru, water has become a precious commodity. One initiative leverages an age-old, well-digging technique to help residents tap into a forgotten source. 

Paraguay’s soy bonanza leaves small farmers in the cold

Environmental concerns impact beloved Hindu festival in India

Lifestyle & Belief

New book is a catalog of ‘living wonders’

Books

Out of Eden Walk: Among the tea pickers and plantations in Sichuan, China

Out of Eden Walk

Firefighters test out new tool as Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands burn

Record-setting wildfires are raging in the Pantanal region in Brazil. In a densely vegetated rural area the size of England, it can be hard for firefighters to find and reach the blazes to combat them. That’s why one nonprofit is training local fighters to use drones to pinpoint the exact location and size of fires, and scope out roads to reach them. 

Wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal becoming more likely because of climate change 

The Pantanal, Brazil’s wetlands region, covers an area roughly the size of England. Although this region is typically flooded for much of the year, droughts have led to wildfires, destroying large swaths of vegetation and wildlife. 

In rural Japan, a closed school becomes a new kind of community hub

Japan in Focus

Japan’s rural population has been in decline for decades. That’s caused many towns to close schools for lack of students. But residents in the village of Takigahara transformed a former nursery school into a different kind of community gathering place.

Out of Eden Walk: Walking through western China

Out of Eden Walk

In China’s southern province of Yunnan, a community known as the Bai expresses itself mostly by singing. And they have a song for everything: from history lessons to mourning to flirting. Host Marco Werman speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek, who also discusses the early 20th century Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock, who traveled through this same region of western China.

The precarious state of green tea in Japan

Japan in Focus

As it gets harder to make a living growing tea, some Japanese farmers are leaving the industry, while others are exploring new options.