Threats to the Electricity Grid

Phoenix Helps Homeless Beat the Heat

Looking Beyond Conservation to Solve Drought

Personal Histories of Hunger in North Korea

Between 1995 and 2000 a devastating famine killed more than one million people in North Korea. However, survivors could not piece together any picture of the famine, because they weren't allowed to identify the famine for what it was, nor was there any information available about the nature of this disaster. Even language used to identify the tragedy was subject to restriction. Words such as famine, food shortages, and hunger were forbidden. North Koreans who disobeyed these language restrictions were marked as counterrevolutionaries who undermined the socialist state.

Societal Lessons From Iceland's Volcanoes

On the morning of June 8, 1783, the ground ripped open in southcentral Iceland and began spewing fire. This violent volcanic outburst, known as the Laki eruption, lasted eight months. Its effects lingered for years, not just in Iceland but around the globe.