内容摘要：“It doesn’t seem to me a solution to put a band-aid on it and say, ‘great, it’s solved and let’s do it,’ but rather it could be a first step,” Mendoza said. “From there, with the help of scientists you could take into account what needs to be adjusted so that it doesn’t become another source of pollution.”

“It doesn’t seem to me a solution to put a band-aid on it and say, ‘great, it’s solved and let’s do it,’ but rather it could be a first step,” Mendoza said. “From there, with the help of scientists you could take into account what needs to be adjusted so that it doesn’t become another source of pollution.”

Growing the coffee isn’t always easy, either. Farmers have to contend with fires that spread quickly in the dry season and decimate their crops. Hunters use fires to scare and kill animals and residents use it to clear land for cultivation. But the fires can get out of control and there are few measures in place to hold people accountable, say residents.A worker tends to excelsa seedlings inside a greenhouse near Nzara, South Sudan on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A worker tends to excelsa seedlings inside a greenhouse near Nzara, South Sudan on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)Still, for locals, the coffee represents a chance at a better future.Bashiama said she started planting coffee after her husband was injured and unable to help cultivate enough of the maize and ground nuts that the family had lived on. Since his accident she hasn’t been able to send her children to school or buy enough food, she said.

Another farmer, 37-year-old Taban John, wants to use his coffee earnings to buy a bicycle so he can more easily sell his other crops, ground nuts and cassava, and other goods in town. He also wants to be able to afford school uniforms for his children.Excelsa is an opportunity for the community to become more financially independent, say community leaders. People rely on the government or foreign aid, but when that doesn’t come through they’re not able to take care of their families, they say.

But for coffee to thrive in South Sudan, locals say there needs to be a long-term mentality, and that requires stability.

A worker waters excelsa seedlings near Nzara, South Sudan on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)Scientists estimate the animal was about 2 1/2 feet (80 centimeters) long and may have resembled a modern monitor lizard. The findings were

The hooked claws are a crucial identification clue, said study co-author and paleontologist Per Ahlberg at Uppsala University in Sweden.“It’s a walking animal,” he said.

Only animals that evolved to live solely on land ever developed claws. The earliest vertebrates -- fish and amphibians – never developed hard nails and remained dependent on watery environments to lay eggs and reproduce.But the branch of the evolutionary tree that led to modern reptiles, birds and mammals – known as amniotes -- developed feet with nails or claws fit for walking on hard ground.