Environment

In host Marco Werman’s latest conversation with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek, Salopek arrives at the shores of Incheon in South Korea. He explores an old fort there connected to the US invasion of South Korea in 1871 — a history largely unknown by many in the US and one that impacted the Korean Peninsula’s history for decades to follow.

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. 

The tiny landlocked South American country of Paraguay is one of the top soy producers on the planet. Soy is the country’s top export and it accounts for a major chunk of the country’s gross domestic product. But the soy explosion has wreaked havoc on Paraguay’s ecosystem and been a disaster for many small farmers whose farms have been inundated with pesticides from neighboring soy plantations.

In the Indian city of Mumbai, millions of Hindus just wrapped up the annual, 10-day celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi, a holiday dedicated to the elephant god, Ganesha. The holiday has come under scrutiny, however, because of the environmental damage that results from r​​eleasing millions of statues into water bodies across the state each year.

A new publication by Atlas Obscura catalogs some of the most remarkable living creatures on our planet. The World’s Host Carol Hills speaks with the book’s authors to learn more.