Workers extract gold from ore near Atbara, Sudan.

As civil war rages in Sudan, a surge in gold production is helping finance and arm the warring factions. Most of the mining is done on a small scale by villagers who process the gold using mercury and cyanide, posing serious threats to their health and to the environment.

By Omnia Saed and Fred Pearce

  • Opinion

    With NOAA Cuts, a Proud Legacy and Vital Science Are at Risk

    For more than 50 years, NOAA has pioneered climate research and been instrumental in advancing modern weather forecasting. Now labeled by Project 2025 as part of the “climate alarm industry” and facing DOGE-driven cuts, the future of this valuable public asset is in jeopardy.

    By Adam Sobel

  • Biodiversity

    Imperiled in the Wild, Many Plants May Survive Only in Gardens

    As the impacts of climate change and other threats mount, conservationists are racing to preserve endangered plant species in botanical garden “metacollections” in the hope of eventually returning them to the wild. But what happens when there is no suitable habitat to return them to?

    By Janet Marinelli

  • Climate

    Can Toxic Mining Waste Help Remove CO2 from the Atmosphere?

    On the coast of Newfoundland, waste from a shuttered asbestos mine has been a troubling source of contamination for decades. Now, a company plans to process the waste to draw CO2 from the air — one of several projects worldwide that aim to turn this liability into an asset.

    By Moira Donovan

Biodiversity

A Craze for Tiny Plants Is Driving a Poaching Crisis in South Africa

South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is the most biodiverse arid region on the planet, with thousands of plants found nowhere else. But to meet a demand fueled by social media, criminal networks have been poaching these colorful succulents by the millions and smuggling them overseas.

By Adam Welz

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Robin Wall Kimmerer.

INTERVIEW

Reciprocity: Rethinking Our Relationship with the Natural World

Robin Wall Kimmerer, the bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, recently published The Serviceberry, which explores the economies of nature. In an e360 interview, the Native American ecologist discusses reciprocity, gratitude, and aligning human law with ecological law.

By Mary Evelyn Tucker

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