Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i National Geographic Magazine

OUR WORLD HAS CHANGED dramatically since I accepted the position as CEO of the National Geographic Society in January, having spent the past nine years as president of Colorado College. When we look back on 2020, organizations will be measured by how they reacted to two life-altering global events: the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement spurred by systemic racism and violence toward Black Americans. National Geographic has covered both extensively. In response to the pandemic, the Society pivoted to focus its education programs on supporting teachers, parents, and students with learn-at-home resources, including a series connecting students with National Geographic explorers on all seven continents. To help educators design distance-learning resources, we gave grants to teachers in under-resourced communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. And to ensure that…

I’VE TRAVELED all over the world taking pictures of nature and ecosystems. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020 in the Netherlands, where I live, I stayed home like everyone else. That’s when I began to notice the fungi growing in my yard and around my neighborhood. That mushrooms and other fungi thrive in humidity became abundantly clear to me starting in autumn 2019, when the Netherlands received an exceptional amount of precipitation. But perhaps more essential than humidity for fungi is dead wood. Rotting timber contains nutrients that enter the soil, which in turn can help microorganisms, fungi, and insects. The entire food chain benefits from it. Around here, deposits of wood left behind from a former era of forest-cutting have long enriched the soil and supported biodiversity. The situation…

AS POPULATIONS OF BEES and other natural pollinators diminish around the world, scientists are experimenting with high-tech replacements. One early attempt by a Japanese research group was a sticky-bottomed drone that could carry pollen among flowers just as a flying insect would—but when the propellers got too close, they damaged the plants. Now the same group has equipped drones with sprayers that release pollen-laden soap bubbles from a distance. In tests, pollinating pear trees with bubbles produced fruit almost as effectively as hand-pollinating (sometimes used to boost fruit trees’ yield). Some ecologists say that such high-tech efforts are misguided and distract from the more important need to conserve bees and other threatened pollinators. For now, the research group is forging ahead: Next steps include developing a more biodegradable soap solution…

Employment • Education • Maternal mortality • Political clout • Physical safety How U.S. women fare in these key aspects of life varies widely across the nation, according to a new benchmark of women’s well-being. The 2020 U.S. Women, Peace and Security Index measures women’s inclusion in society, sense of security, and exposure to discrimination. It shows how obstacles and opportunities for women differ from state to state, driven by economic, racial, and ethnic disparities, among other factors.…

For the Anishinaabe, hunting has never been a sport, and life is never taken lightly. SO WHEN THE BIG BULL MOOSE approached Tom Morriseau Borg, he felt a mix of gratitude, awe, and humility: The moose was offering itself, a gift of life and meat from the forest that Borg would share with family and friends. Borg, a traditional Anishinaabe trapper, grew up near Lake Nipigon in western Ontario in a home without electricity or running water. The Anishinaabe have fished, hunted, and trapped there for centuries, and after Borg shot the moose, he sprinkled tobacco on the animal and whispered some prayers of thanks, just as his grandfather had taught him. But as he dressed the carcass—cutting it up to bring home—Borg’s gratitude gave way to revulsion. When he…

A thriving, complex food web is crucial to the health of one of Earth’s largest surface freshwater ecosystems. But introductions and invasions of non-native aquatic plants and animals, the harvesting and stocking of top predator fish, and elevated nutrient and contaminant levels have snarled the Great Lakes food web, affecting fisheries, wildlife, and the health of the ecosystem. THE LAKES TODAY More than 180 non-native species with reproducing populations continue to threaten the Great Lakes Basin. CONNECTED BUT UNIQUE The Great Lakes system includes the five Great Lakes (Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario), Lake St. Clair, and their connecting channels. Each lake has distinctive basin features, circulation patterns, and ecologies. A HIJACKED SYSTEM Invasive species have rewired the Great Lakes food web. Sea lampreys attack top predators; round gobies…

PEOPLE SAY THAT ONCE you have the Arctic in your system, it will always be calling you. I spent my childhood running about the tundra and watching the northern lights as I walked to school in the polar night, the poetic name for the two months of darkness that’s not just winter here but also a state of mind. I left my hometown of Tiksi, a remote seaport on the shore of Russia’s Laptev Sea, years ago to live in big cities and different countries. But the Arctic has been calling me back. I crave its isolation and slower pace of life. In this frozen northern landscape, my imagination flies like the wind, with no obstacles. Every object becomes symbolic, every shade of color meaningful. I am my real self…

I GREW UP in the Great Lakes State, and for many years now, during my annual summer (yes, it has to be summer) visit back to Michigan, I’m always happy about what I don’t see. I don’t see throngs of Californians (sorry) swarming adorable lakeside towns like Petoskey or Glen Arbor. I don’t see hordes of New Yorkers (sorry) splashing about Lake Michigan or thundering down the steep white sands of Sleeping Bear Dunes. No offense to the multitudes on both coasts, but I’ve always been glad the still-unspoiled charms of northwest Michigan felt like my secret—or at least a secret held by a smaller group of people, largely from the Midwest. Lately, however, I’ve been thinking about the downside of being out of sight and out of mind. Most…

SOMETIMES WE LET GO of things, sometimes things are taken away, and sometimes things break, such as lives, hearts, entire ways of life. Doesn’t our world feel broken in the time of COVID-19, maybe especially when holy days arrive? If we are wise, we avoid large gatherings, dinner indoors with family and old friends, services at our mosques, temples, churches—so we lose the joyful and profound rituals and gatherings at this time of devastation when we need them most. But does this mean we lose the nurture, bonding, and sacred silliness that ceremonies provide? Maybe we can be fully immersed in the holy even as we keep ourselves and our beloveds safe. Maybe broken isn’t the end of the world. Maybe broken is a new beginning, a portal. Let’s start…

HUNTING TECHNIQUE Scientists once thought that Smilodon killed by knifelike stabs of its canines. But studies of the strength and length of its neck and muscle attachments have led to new theories.…

IT WAS THE BRIGHT, iridescent blue of the morpho butterfly that inspired Andrew Parnell and his colleagues. Struck by the insect’s natural ability to produce vibrant hues, the physicists and chemists began investigating how they too could produce eye-catching color—not with dyes, but by altering the structure of the material itself. “We could make these really nice reflectors, very much like the butterflies do, mimicking how nature makes them,” says Parnell, whose lab at the University of Sheffield, England, studies colors that span the rainbow. A pigment produces color by absorbing all but a specific wavelength of light. By contrast, colors produced by altering the arrangement of molecules reflect only a specific wavelength. Parnell calls it the science of controlling light. Blue pigments occur rarely in nature. But some 4,800…

One of the world’s largest sources of surface freshwater is in trouble. Environmental stressors such as climate change, invasive species, toxic chemicals, agricultural pollutants, and coastal development are degrading the Great Lakes ecosystem. Lake Superior is the least threatened; Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan are most at risk. Massive freshwater reserve Holding nearly 5,500 cubic miles of water, the Great Lakes contain more than a fifth of all the surface freshwater on Earth. Almost 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada rely on these five lakes for drinking water.…

The Great Lakes, with the longest coastline in the continental U.S., bustle with trade. Some 42 million tons of cargo moved through the St. Lawrence Seaway in 2019. The waterway has 15 locks and is part of a 2,340-mile route stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior. International shipping, a small share of the cargo trade, was once a leading pathway for invasive species. LIMITED COMMERCE Most foreign cargo ships, or “salties,” are too large to pass through the relatively small seaway system locks; they can’t sail inland past Montréal. To travel any farther, cargo must be loaded onto longer and narrower lake freighters, or “lakers.” WHAT GETS SHIPPED ON THE SEAWAY Canada relies heavily on the St. Lawrence Seaway for domestic and international trade, principally of agricultural products.…

Simon Isolomo awoke around 5 a.m., said goodbye to his wife and seven children, and climbed into his dugout canoe. That Tuesday in December 2018 had begun like many others in Isolomo’s 30 years of fishing in the province of Équateur, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Paddling on the Ikelemba River toward his fishing camp with a couple of friends, Isolomo, a 52-year-old French teacher, snacked on kwanga, a popular manioc dish, and enjoyed the cool morning air. Three hours later they arrived at the camp, and Isolomo began checking the fishing lines he’d set up the day before. Feeling resistance on one, he thrust his hand into the murky water. A sharp pain sent him reeling. Blood oozed from two puncture wounds on his hand. Just below…

Quarantined in the Veluwe region of the Netherlands, a photographer studies the fungi in his garden and nearby woods.…

FLOWERS, feathers, hemp threads, shells, beads, even pieces of foil and wax. These are some of the items that artist Dominika Dyka weaves into her modern re-creations of the classic vinok, or wreath. Worn for centuries by girls and young women in Slavic countries, the wreaths are thought to have pagan origins. They are customary accessories for weddings and Ivan Kupala festivities, when women place their wreath in a river to divine their romantic future. Will the water’s flow seal their fate—or will a man jump in to save it? The wreaths are gaining new visibility thanks to artists, musicians, and scenemakers. “You feel like a royal when you wear one,” says musician Daga Gregorowicz. And so do audiences: “They may wear Wellingtons at festivals in England—but here the hipsters…

Freshwater is vital to the Great Lakes Basin agricultural industry, which pumps some 400 million gallons of basin water every day for irrigation. The region supports 25 percent of Canada’s agricultural production and 7 percent of the United States’, but water quality, wildlife habitat, and fish stocks have decreased in recent decades as a result of high fertilizer use and other pressures.…

The song comes alive as night draws in. Hear it curl beneath the blanket, slip between the fold of cradling arms, in rooms across the world. To an audience of children, a hidden chorus of caregivers fills the night with song. They’re singing lullabies. PHILIPPINES Amy Villaruel puts her daughter Jazzy to bed in Bataan Province. For the Villaruels, who rely on spearfishing for their income, bedtime is dictated by the tides. Amy’s husband and sons often fish at night. LISTEN TO AMY’S LULLABY ON YOUTUBE. Use your phone’s camera to scan the QR codes in the story to hear lullabies from around the world. For Khadija al Mohammad, nighttime has always been the time for silence, comfort, and quieting the noises of the day. When her eldest son, Muhammed,…

Venomous snakes are found around the world, but the people most at risk live in poor, rural regions of Africa and southern Asia, where access to treatment often is limited. Not all bites result in venom being injected (envenoming), but those that do can kill or permanently disable a person. WHAT HEIGHTENS THE RISK Rural location People in rural areas, especially agricultural workers and hunters, are more likely to encounter a snake. Inadequate footwear or an insecure dwelling increases the risk of a bite. Delayed treatment Many seek only traditional medicine after a bite, or they may lack swift transport to a hospital. Any delays greatly raise the chance of disability or death. Limited health care In poorer areas, medical facilities may not have health workers with the training or…

WHO A fine art and documentary photographer based in San Francisco WHERE Pinedale Regional Office of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department WHAT A Mamiya Leaf Aptus camera with a 55mm lens To catch people hunting unlawfully in western Wyoming during the off-season, rangers from the state’s Game and Fish Department occasionally conduct sting operations. They position a taxidermied elk in mountain valleys and wait out of sight for someone to shoot at it. This elk was on its day off in the hallway of the department’s Pinedale Regional Office when Foglia took this photograph. It’s an ideal image for Human Nature, Foglia’s recent exhibition and book about people’s interactions with wild spaces. This page showcases images from National Geographic’s Instagram accounts. We’re the most popular brand on Instagram, with…