The Acid Sea

The carbon dioxide we pump into the air is seeping into the oceans and slowly acidifying them. One hundred years from now, will oysters, mussels, and coral reefs survive? “In 2008 a group of more than 150 leading researchers issued a declaration stating that they were ‘deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry,’ which could within decades ‘severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity, and fisheries.'”

Published: Mar 25, 2011
Length: 13 minutes (3,469 words)

Taming the Wild

Mavrik, the object of Trut’s attention, is about the size of a Shetland sheepdog, with chestnut orange fur and a white bib down his front. He plays his designated role in turn: wagging his tail, rolling on his back, panting eagerly in anticipation of attention. Trut reaches in and scoops him up, then hands him over to me. Cradled in my arms, gently jawing my hand in his mouth, he’s as docile as any lapdog. Except that Mavrik, as it happens, is not a dog at all. He’s a fox. Hidden away on this overgrown property, flanked by birch forests and barred by a rusty metal gate, he and several hundred of his relatives are the only population of domesticated silver foxes in the world.

Published: Feb 18, 2011
Length: 17 minutes (4,446 words)

Opium Wars

A key step to securing peace will be to wean Afghan farmers off growing poppies. “This is a bad way to make money. It trains you for no other occupation. When a father feeds a boy with money from poppies, he will grow poppies too. He’ll have no other skill. We have no carpenters, no engineers, no mechanics. We have nothing.” With a sad smile, the farmer says, “It is a kind of cancer on our country.”

Published: Jan 18, 2011
Length: 19 minutes (4,760 words)

Remember This

There is a 41-year-old woman, an administrative assistant from California known in the medical literature only as “AJ,” who remembers almost every day of her life since age 11. There is an 85-year-old man, a retired lab technician called “EP,” who remembers only his most recent thought. She might have the best memory in the world. He could very well have the worst.

Published: Nov 1, 2007
Length: 22 minutes (5,542 words)

California’s Pipe Dream

A heroic system of dams, pumps, and canals can’t stave off a water crisis.

Published: Apr 1, 2010
Length: 10 minutes (2,598 words)

Scraping Bottom

Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta’s oil sands is now a gamble worth billions.

Published: Mar 1, 2009
Length: 15 minutes (3,986 words)

There’s No Place Like Home

Fewer Americans are relocating than at any time since 1962. That’s good news for families, communities … and even the environment.

Published: Oct 9, 2009
Length: 12 minutes (3,194 words)

A Life Revealed

Her eyes have captivated the world since she appeared on our cover in 1985. Now we can tell her story.

Published: Apr 1, 2002
Length: 5 minutes (1,426 words)

Up on the Roof

A lofty idea is blossoming in cities around the world, where acres of potential green space lie overhead.

Published: May 11, 2009
Length: 6 minutes (1,563 words)