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Arctic Expeditions of the 19th Century

Government-sponsored polar expeditions made fewer major discoveries introduced fewer innovations, lost more ships, and had more explorers die. Throughout the nineteenth century, Arctic exploration dominated popular culture in Europe and America, much as space exploration did in the twentieth century. Both quests involved competitive races for major geographic prizes; both led to fame and honorsContinue reading “Arctic Expeditions of the 19th Century”

Slippery Slopes

More than 200 million impoverished people worldwide make their homes on hillsides. These hillsides are the source of some 20 percent of the world’s freshwater, and yet agricultural activities have resulted in vast deforestation and topsoil erosion. Since 1993, the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) based in Cali, Colombia, has been working with farmersContinue reading “Slippery Slopes”

Is No Use Good Use?

Americans are on the fast track to land preservation as more and more federal land is set aside at an increasingly rapid pace. Now is the time to pause and ask if locking up great expanses of land provides the good stewardship that we want for our public lands.