List of Natural Resources articles
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A lone wolf faces the camera appearing to snarl on a dry winter field on the edge of the forest in Hukkajarvi, eastern Finland. Who’s Afraid of Europe’s Big, Bad Wolves?
Conservationists face off against farmers in a familiar man-versus-nature conflict.
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Two people stand and sit in a boat in an above shot looking down at a string of colorful rowboats floating along the bank of the Ravi River, a tributary of the Indus in Lahore, Pakistan. Can India and Pakistan’s Historic Water Pact Endure?
The Indus Waters Treaty was created to avoid conflict. To confront the climate crisis, it must evolve.
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This aerial photo shows rescuers evacuating residents down a flooded street using a kayak after heavy rains in Xiamen, in China's eastern Fujian province Climate Change Could Drown China’s Food Security
China has a fifth of the world’s population but just 9 percent of its arable land—and that bit is increasingly underwater.
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Women wash ore in the artisanal copper-cobalt mine of Kamilombe, near the city of Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 20. Africa’s Critical Minerals Could Power America’s Green Energy Transition
Biden’s IRA is shutting African countries out of supply chains for critical minerals. Including them would be a strategic and diplomatic win.
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Two Uzbek soldiers, both wearing camouflage and helmets and holding rifles, stand on either side of a metal gate with a stop sign at its center. Behind the fence is a flat field, and farther in the distance are trees and a blue sky. The Water Wars Are Coming to Central Asia
Things have been bad for decades, but the Taliban threaten to make them worse.
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A lithium mine supervisor inspects an evaporation pond of lithium-rich brine in the Atacama Desert in Salar de Atacama, Chile. The Mineral-Rich Want to Get Richer
The world’s biggest reserves of lithium and nickel are concentrated in a handful of nations. And they want to cash in.
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Workers stand beside bags of cobalt and copper at a processing plant in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Dec. 1, 2011. China’s Threat to Ban Critical Minerals Exports Is a Bluff
Embargoes have unintended consequences—and would hurt China more than the West.
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Scientist Claire Dalgliesh, front, works in San Diego on June 8, 2021, shortly after returning from conducting research onboard the vessel Maersk Launcher in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, where soil, water, and wildlife samples were obtained as part of the research to see the effects mining will have on the deep-sea environment. The Deep-Sea Gold Rush
To power the energy transition, miners are racing to the bottom—of the ocean.
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Workers wearing hardhats and safety gear direct truck traffic at a mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.S. Strategic Minerals Situation Is Critical
Desperate to diversify away from Beijing, Washington is ramping up efforts to jump-start its struggling domestic industry.
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Chimney stacks for a factory processing rare earths, elements essential for the production of mobile phones and computers, in Baotou, China. America Dropped the Baton in the Rare-Earth Race
Washington keeps trying to play catch-up in the rare-earth game with China. It’s losing ground.
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Visitors stand on a salt mound at an Albemarle Corporation lithium mine in the Atacama Desert, Chile, on Aug. 24, 2022. How Chile’s Politics Are Shaping the Global Energy Transition
Chile’s rightward lurch is an opportunity to expand the supply of lithium, a critical battery resource.
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Houses are shown on the edge of deep gouges in the land. U.S. Apathy Paved the Way for China in Africa
Despite a strong foothold during the Cold War, Washington has since fumbled on the continent.
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A worker walks past machinery that crushes rocks at the Mughulkhil chromite mine in Logar province, Afghanistan. China’s Got Afghan Fever, Again
Nothing says forever like the promise of Afghanistan’s mineral riches.
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An aerial view of a lithium mine that shws tripes of white and gold, and a crane in one of the stripes. The 21st-Century Gold Rush
Will there be a new cold war over lithium?
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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting on securing critical mineral supply chains in the South Court Auditorium, located near the White House in Washington, D.C. The Critical Minerals Club
The United States and allies aim to sidestep reliance on China for the materials needed for clean tech and advanced defense gear.
