National Geographic Magazine

Amazing discoveries and experiences await you in every issue of National Geographic magazine. The latest news in science, exploration, and culture will open your eyes to the world’s many wonders.

Telling Stories That Matter

ABES ACROSS AMERICA • What does patriotism look like? For some impassioned impersonators, it’s all about President Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator.

THE BACKSTORY • AS LINCOLN REENACTORS, THESE AMERICANS DRESS THEMSELVES IN THE PAST TO CONVEY VALUES FOR TODAY.

A Way for Nature to Rest in Peace • CONSERVATIONISTS SEE CEMETERIES AS A TOOL TO PRESERVE LAND, NATURALLY—AND DETER RUNAWAY DEVELOPMENT.

Environmental impact at the end

Marked, naturally

IS YOUR SEA GLASS FAKE?

MICE AND HUMANS , JUST IMAGINE ALL THEY’LL SEE

Hugs really do make us feel better

SURFING MOUNTAINS

PLANET POSSIBLE • Even small changes in food and shopping habits can reduce your diet’s carbon footprint and boost health.

WHERE THE WALRUSES SING • ON A REMOTE ALASKA ISLAND, UNFORGETTABLE MELODIES COME FROM A SURPRISING SOURCE.

FEATURES

UP THE MOUNTAIN, TO A WORLD APART

SKY-HIGH ARCHIPELAGO • Just as flora and fauna evolved on remote islands across the oceans, so too did plants and animals isolated on the summits of tepuis, rock plateaus rising out of South American rainforests. Slow weathering honed their sheer cliffs and hollowed valleys between them. Scientists believe these sky islands each fostered unique life-forms, separated by oceans of tropical lowlands.

NATURE’S LABORATORY • Tepuis, island-like landforms towering thousands of feet above South American savannas and rainforests, remain mostly untouched by humans. During the past few decades, scientists have discovered a broad array of endemic plant and animal species living in the tepuis’ high reaches and hidden interiors.

The Weird Wonder of SEAHORSES • They look like a mix of other animals, the males give birth, and we still have much to learn about them. Now these unique fish are threatened.

PLASTIC RUNS THROUGH IT

INDIA’S RIVER OF PLASTIC • The holy Ganga, aka Ganges, is now heavily polluted, a massive waterway carrying the detritus of millions of humans out to sea. In 2019 the National Geographic Society sent a team to survey the Ganges River Basin specifically for plastics. The researchers studied dozens of sites on land and water in multiple locations, following the river’s 1,560-mile journey from Himalayan glaciers to its delta on the Indian Ocean.

All for a Song • CUBA’S INFATUATION WITH WILD SONGBIRDS IS PUTTING THEM AT RISK.

THE WATER BEHIND US • IN THE ROUGH SEAS OFF WEST AFRICA, FISHING ISN’T JUST FOR THE BRAVE—IT’S A TRADITION THAT SHAPES COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND THEIR RESPECT FOR NATURE.

PAOLO VERZONE • FROM OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS