National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek talks about his walk through northern India, where modern farming with high-yield seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, tractors and motorized well pumps have made India self-sufficient in food. But as he tells host Carolyn Beeler, it has come at a cost to the environment, water supply and some traditional ways of life.
The feudal principalities of far northern Pakistan, home to walled villages, yak herders, glacial rivers, golden poplar forests, and snow leopards, held off—or played off—would-be conquerors ranging from Alexander the Great to imperial Great Britain. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek, whose globe-spanning journey on foot brought him through this remote region on the cusp of change.
Heavy rain hit southern Brazil over the weekend, exacerbating the already unprecedented flooding tragedy the region has undergone since last April. Of the major concerns right now are respiratory illnesses and a bacterial disease that has already killed more than a dozen people.
Afghanistan’s wild and mountainous Wakhan Corridor is an isolated region, home to the rare snow leopard and to a human culture that has gone unchanged for centuries. People still get their flour for baking from water-powered grist mills. Host Marco Werman speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek about his trek through this rugged alpine wilderness.
Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state, has had to adapt after the metropolitan area of roughly 4.5 million people lost its only international airport. A month ago, unprecedented flooding sank major parts of the city. The rains have continued and the city’s airport is still underwater. So, officials have gotten creative.