Cycles of Change

Driving past irrigated cornfields across western Kansas in late July presents a landscape of dazzling green. Center-pivot sprinklers rotate slowly across quarter-mile fields, throwing silvery arcs of water into hot afternoon air. Beneath the crops lies an ancient underground sea that makes this [...]

The Geographic Gateway A map of North America shows tall mountain ranges on the eastern side, standing between the ocean and the flat interior continent. Rivers flow down from these mountains, but most travel only east or south, which provides little help for travelers moving west. Central New York [...]

A sapling grows in a drought-stricken valley. The lack of surface water forces the tree to build dense, stunted wood and abandon vertical height. The root system spreads exceptionally wide and remains extremely shallow, desperately hunting for any trace of surface moisture. The cellular [...]

A population endures a severe food shortage. Caloric intake drops from a sustaining baseline down to 500 calories a day. The human body reacts to this deficit by consuming its own fat reserves and breaking down muscle tissue to keep the brain and vital organs functioning. For a pregnant woman [...]

There is a common idea in economics that says humans are so creative and adaptable that we will always find a way around scarcity. When something runs low, the price rises, people innovate, and a solution appears. This has been true in some cases. But there are limits that human ingenuity cannot [...]

Highway shoulders across the country show a startling growth of discarded tech trash resting in the grass. Drivers toss spent plastic vapes out car windows without thinking about the toxic waste left behind on the dirt. These bright plastic tubes hold lithium battery cells, metal coils, tiny chips, [...]