As the Trump administration ends USAID's mission, a project to bring water to drought-ridden lands is now in peril. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, William Brangham and producer Molly Knight Raskin traveled to a community in...

The Maasai people have lived sustainably off the savanna for centuries, raising cattle for sustenance and income. Climate activist Dorcas Naishorua paints a picture of how the climate crisis is threatening their way of life — and calls...

Imagine if a wizard of meatless dining suddenly appeared on Earth and with one wave of a wand wiped away all meat from our shelves— along with any desire to eat it. Farm animals destined for food vanish, whisked away to another planet....

Many regions in East Africa are at risk of famine for the third time in 25 years. Twenty million people in the war-torn countries of Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia, as well as drought-stricken neighbors like Ethiopia are at risk. Special...

Desert sand is slowly taking over Somalia. Just six years after the last

major drought emergency, the rains have failed again -- a devastating t
rend
in a country where around 80 percent of people make their livi
ng on the...

The climate crisis is now a reality worldwide, but it's nowhere more apparent than the parched landscapes of northern Africa. Thousands are on the move looking for water to grow crops and graze livestock. Special correspondent Willem...

Cultural objects around the world are routinely threatened by war, looting and human impact. But a kind of modern-day renaissance workshop called Factum Arte outside Madrid is taking an innovative approach to understanding and preserving...

What if smallholder farmers could use their produce and livestock to pay for goods and services? TED Fellow and alternative currency enthusiast Fariel Salahuddin is working to make this a reality in places including rural Pakistan, where...

Technology allows us to give cash directly to the poorest people on the planet. Should we do it? In this thought-provoking talk, veteran aid worker Joy Sun explores two ways to help the poor.

Conservation efforts in Africa have typically been led by "parachute conservationists" -- outsiders who drop in thinking they have all the answers, hire locals to implement them and then disappear. But conservationist Resson Kantai Duff...

Tiny creatures called rotifers seem to have no problem continuing their lives after waking from a refreshing 24,000-year nap. And DNA samples from goats that lived 30,000 years ago tell us a bit about how humans were managing them back...

Although plants are great carbon-removing tools, plant agriculture produces a significant carbon footprint. So, some researchers think we could turn to the oceans (specifically, seaweed) to help reverse some of the effects of climate...

In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect endangered animal species: giving nearby villagers (including former poachers) responsibility for caring for the animals. And it's working.

We could generate a lot of usable energy from human and animal poop through greater adoption of a process for using microbes to break down poop into methane...

At least 400 million people worldwide live in ultra-poverty: a state of severe financial and social vulnerability that robs many of hope and dignity. At BRAC, an international development organization focused on fighting poverty,...

Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible -- but because it doesn’t look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources.

Marcel Dicke makes an appetizing case for adding insects to everyone's diet. His message to squeamish chefs and foodies: delicacies like locusts and caterpillars compete with meat in flavor, nutrition and eco-friendliness.

In the Maasai community where Richard Turere lives with his family, cattle are all-important. But lion attacks were growing more frequent. In this short, inspiring talk, the young inventor shares the solar-powered solution he designed to...

Vikings, volcanoes, and sheep don’t immediately seem like they should all be connected, but this unlikely trio is actually informing our knowledge of global history.

What's tasty, abundant and high in protein? Bugs! Although less common outside the tropics, entomophagy, the practice of eating bugs, was once extremely widespread throughout cultures. You may feel icky about munching on insects, but...

What if, this holiday season, instead of saying "thank you" to your aunt for her gift of a knitted sweater, the polite response expected from you was to show up at her house in a week with a better gift? Or to vote for her in the town...

Each day, the animal kingdom produces roughly enough poop to match the volume of water pouring over Victoria Falls. So why isn't the planet covered in the stuff? You can thank the humble dung beetle for eating up the excess. Eleanor...

Are humans really Earth's most dominant species? Let's put all of the planet's living things on a scale and see what has amassed the most mass. This week we break down the concept of "biomass" to judge Earth's living things from top to...

What looks like a reptile-amphibian hybrid, has a dish shaped skull, smells like fish, is child-like and out to steal your crops and drown your livestock? The Japanese water yokai, Kappa.