Georgia’s capital city, Tbilisi, sits at the ancient crossroads of Asia and Europe, of Islam and Christianity. It is currently the scene of a political confrontation over a Russia-inspired law that critics fear will stifle media freedom. Host Marco Werman speaks with National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek in Tbilisi about the city’s rich cultural past and its current tensions.
Blue and gold macaws, a species non-native to the city, have developed a relationship with the residents of Caracas, Venezuela. However, the birds’ future is uncertain as their habitats are becoming increasingly endangered.
Companies around the world try to make up for their carbon emission by purchasing “offsets,” financing projects intended to preserve forests or otherwise compensate for their emissions. In Cambodia, Human Rights Watch recently issued a report about violations against Indigenous people in a carbon offset program in the Cardamom mountains.
In early 2013, National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek began an epic walk, following the path of the first human migration out of Africa about 60,000 years ago. Host Carol Hills speaks with Salopek — now two-thirds through his global journey — about his experience walking through Djibouti and sailing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea.
Severe, dry winds during the harmattan season are not new in Ghana. But experts with the country’s environmental agency say climate change is intensifying these weather conditions, leading to increased respiratory problems and poor air quality in Accra, the country’s capital.