Like teeming cities in the sea, coral reefs rival rain forests in diversity of life, and nowhere are they more spectacular than in the tropical western Pacific. Article and photographs by David Doubilet.

The world’s coral reefs touch our lives in many ways, yet an alarming number of them have been degraded or destroyed. By Douglas H. Chadwick. Photographs by David Doubilet.

Read the complete NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC story.

Read our essay and share your insights in our forum.

Leading a personal crusade for Arab independence, this Oxford scholar-turned-warrior altered the course of history and was lionized as the “uncrowned King of Arabia.” By Don Belt. Photographs by Annie Griffiths Belt.

Researchers engaged in the first ever field study of the world’s largest snake, the green anaconda, investigate “breeding balls” to learn how these South American serpents reproduce. By Jesús Rivas. Photographs by Robert Caputo.

Climbers inch up 2,400 feet (730 meters) of sheer stone to the summit of Great Sail Peak on Canada’s ice-glazed Baffin Island. By Greg Child. Photographs by Gordon Wiltsie.

Join Gordon Wiltsie for another icy ascent in our Scaling the Razor feature.

From dinosaur embryos to the dance language of bees, the NGS Committee for Research and Exploration enhanced our view of the world with more than 250 grants in 1998. By George E. Stuart. Photograph at left by Joan Root; insert by David Coulson.

For more information visit our Committee for Research and Exploration.

Revered as omens, reviled as destructive pests, these giant black songbirds exhibit an impressive variety of complex behaviors. By Douglas H. Chadwick. Photographs by Michael S. Quinton.

In the shadow of an awakened volcano, Mexican government officials prepare to evacuate threatened villages, while residents cling to their land despite occasional eruptions of ash and rock. By A. R. Williams. Photographs by Sarah Leen.

Biodiversity: Taking Stock of Life; The Variety of Life; Wilderness Headcount; The Sixth Extinction; Restoring Madagascar; In Search of Solutions; Under Antarctic Ice; Forest Elephants; Diatoms, Plants With a Touch of Glass; Ants and Plants—A Profitable Partnership.