Floating store on Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake, home to thousands of dispossessed people. The lake faces numerous threats, including a dam-building boom in China and Laos. Photo by Erica Gies.

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A Giant Lake that Sustains Millions of People Is in Danger

Dams, overfishing, and pollution threaten Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s most productive fisheries.

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Coca-Cola Leaves It to Beavers to Fight the Drought

The soft-drink giant is deploying the dam-building animals to replenish groundwater supplies.

water tank on Navajo (Dine') land

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The Navajo Are Fighting to Get Their Water Back

A third of tribe members lack clean water while cities thrive on rivers running through reservations. New deals are enabling them to take some of what’s theirs.

In Luang Prabang, Laos, two elephants connect during an elephant caravan that drew locals' attention to the illegal logging that threatens the country’s 900 remaining pachyderms. Photo by Erica Gies.

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Laos’ Elephants Take to the Road to Save Their Forest Home

An elephant caravan draws attention to the illegal logging that threatens the country’s 900 remaining pachyderms.

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Investors Are Grabbing a Japan-Size Chunk of the Developing World for Food and Water

Activists tracking these deals say rich countries are buying up land—93 million acres—and displacing local people and wildlife.

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Hacking the Drought

With climate models predicting precipitation extremes in some of the world’s most ecologically and politically sensitive areas, scientists and engineers are coming up with creative solutions.

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The Climate Trigger Behind Human Tragedies

Earth’s increasingly volatile weather conditions have been linked to numerous global crises, from terrorism to child marriage.

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‘Killing Contests’ Target Pregnant Cownose Rays

Scientists fear the hunts will decimate the cownose ray before they can learn of its role in the marine ecosystem.

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Cambodian Activist Wins Goldman Prize for Exposing Illegal Logging

Leng Ouch has risked his life to go undercover and gather evidence of collusion between timber companies and government officials.

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An Earsplitting Threat Is Endangering the World’s Rarest Killer Whales

Noise pollution from ships imperils Southern Resident orcas that depend on sound to communicate and find food and mates.

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Africa Goes off the Grid to Bring Power to Rural Villages

Half of Africa’s population lacks access to electricity, but microgrids powered by solar energy are lighting the way to energy independence.

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