Imagine a local government weighing two futures for a 100-acre plot of pristine wetlands. On one hand, a developer offers a $50 million subdivision, promising immediate property taxes and housing. On the other hand, the existing marsh sits quietly, apparently “worthless” on a balance sheet.

Picturing a desert typically conjures up images of sand dunes, rocks, blazing sun, and maybe some palm trees or cactus. But one image that probably doesn’t come to mind is flourishing marine life.

As an apex predator that can harm human beings and domestic animals, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is feared in many parts of the nation. However, “the reasons to fear alligators are unfounded, as they are not aggressive beasts, although as large predators they should be respected,” said Frank Mazzotti, professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center.

Floodwaters are in the headlines. Mud is in the photographs. Death toll numbers force a nation to look up. But for children, the disasters continue long after the rain stops. Solutions include prioritizing school repairs and reopenings after a natural disaster, and adding school curricula and activities on how to strengthen Indonesia’s islands against future calamities.

At 7 a.m., as the sun rises over Seoul, the nearby granite slopes of Bukhansan are already alive. Elderly hikers in neon visors tap their trekking poles like drumbeats, exhaling clouds of mist into the crisp, pine-scented air.