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A CHALLENGE AT A KEY TO EARTH’S CHANGES

Thursday, August 18, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we follow a dangerous ascent by ‘Free Solo’ climber Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay, trail storm-chasers as U.S. tornado tracks move eastward, find a possible impact site of an asteroid dating to the destruction of the dinosaurs … and see fights intensify over dwindling water in the U.S. Southwest.

Two world-renowned climbers, Free Solo‘s Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay, attempt a dangerous climb in Greenland

PHOTOGRAPH BY J.J. KELLEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR DISNEY+

No one had climbed the remote 3,750-foot granite-gneiss wall in eastern Greenland before.

That is, before two world-renowned climbers, Free Solo’s Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay (above), battled sudden storms, loose rock, and sub-freezing temperatures while trying to ascend Ingmikortilaq, one of the world’s highest monoliths and a bellwether in Earth’s climate changes.

Read the full story on the dangerous attempt here.

Please consider subscribing here to get our full digital report, including our story on Honnold’s daring ropes-free climb of Yosemite’s El Capitan.

two world-renowned climbers, Free Solo‘s Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT PYCROFT, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOR DISNEY+

Greenland’s vital role: Findlay and Honnold, shown here Tuesday, are also helping gather crucial data from a remote ice cap that scientists believe holds important clues about climate change and sea level rise. Their adventure is being filmed for a National Geographic series that will stream on Disney+. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

The Ornament of the World - Cordoba's stunning mosque-cathedral

S. DENG/ALAMY/ACI

Córdoba's stunning mosque-cathedral (pictured above) showcases Spain's Muslim heritage

As dinos were dying, a second powerful asteroid may have hit Earth

Can scientists re-create the extinct Tasmanian tiger—and let it roam again?

Conflict intensifies over dwindling water in the U.S. Southwest

The Caribbean's best diving? We say it's around this tiny island.

Critics of face masks were out in force—five centuries ago

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY NEHA HIRVE

Storm chasers: They range from trained guides and meteorologists to novices armed with nothing but a smartphone. They’re on the trail of ominous funnel clouds, golf ball-sized hail, flashing lightning—and tornadoes, which are tracking farther east in the U.S. because of climate change. A Nat Geo story examines the motivations—and the extreme risk—of storm chasing. (Pictured above, a tornado-chasing tour near Hays, Kansas.)

Related: He risked it all for tornado research

WOULD YOU DO IT?

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

Falling in love both with winter and also mountains from a very young age is what ignited all of it for me.

Alison Criscitiello

Nat Geo Explorer and ice core scientist

LAST GLIMPSE

Vole outside its burrow

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID CHANCELLOR, @CHANCELLORDAVID

Rewilding: In fierce desert winds, 20 Arabian oryx, 50 sand gazelles, and 10 Nubian ibex were released to a nature reserve in northwest Saudi Arabia. Photographer David Chancellor says the re-wilding program follows a return of vegetation to parts of the kingdom, which had been denuded by overgrazing and overhunting. See more on our Instagram page.

BORN TO BE REWILD

This newsletter was curated and edited by Jen Tse, David Beard, Heather Kim, Anne Kim-Dannible, and Allie Yang. Do you have an idea? Would you consider chasing storms—or have you? Let us know! Thanks for reading.

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