Scientific American-Today in Science

"Today in Science:  No one is coming to save us."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 22 April 2024, 2040 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

 

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April 22, 2024: Happy Earth Day! We're tracking human impact on Earth's systems, a genetic bank for endangered species and what happens when people quit Ozempic. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

TOP STORIES

Pushing Boundaries As human populations and resource demands continue to grow, they put more pressure on Earth’s eight natural systems–for example, groundwater supplies, land area for wild animal habitats and ecosystems, and clean air. Scientists have determined how far these systems can be pushed until serious harm comes to the lifeforms that depend on those systems. But some experts argue that those limits must be made more conservative, in order to truly protect humans and the planet.  Case in point: Aerosols, or fine particulates less than 2.5 microns in diameter, are released into the air by a range of industrial processes. Their rising concentrations are starting to alter monsoon rain patterns on which millions of people depend for growing food. Such weather patterns are global. But aerosols can also harm human lungs, and people in poorer regions often suffer more from particulate pollution. A limit of 0.25 to 0.50 aerosol optical depth, or AOD, an estimate of the amount of aerosols present in the atmosphere, demarcates how much the atmosphere can accommodate before severe changes kick in. But a “safe and just” limit of 0.17 AOD, takes into account the problem of local air pollution levels, which kill millions of people a year.  What the experts say: “Our latest work indicates that in 2023 the world had already surpassed the safe and just limit for seven of the eight boundaries,” writes Joyeeta Gupta, a professor of environment and development in the Global South at the University of Amsterdam and a professor at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. “Only the aerosols limit has not been breached globally, although local aerosol boundaries have been crossed in many parts of the world. We have also found that in more than 50 percent of all places on Earth, at least two of the safe and just boundaries have been crossed.”

Animal Biobank The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has teamed up with a nonprofit conservation company on a project to cryogenically store tissue from every endangered animal species in the U.S. The goal is to eventually collect tissue samples from at least one male and one female of each of the hundreds of endangered animal species in the U.S. So far in the so-called biobanking pilot project, the team has collected tissues from 13 endangered species, with a goal of 25 overall for the pilot phase. The samples are being stored at –256 degrees Fahrenheit at a U.S. Department of Agriculture cryogenic facility in Fort Collins, Colo. Why this matters: Much like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which has been collecting seeds from around the world since 2008, the founders of this project hope to keep a genetic library that might save some endangered animals from extinction. More than 1 million of Earth’s plant and animal species are at risk of extinction, and the rate is accelerating, according to a 2019 UN Report. The top causes are loss of habitat (deforestation), invasive species, and overhunting/overfishing. What the experts say: Biobanking is not a catch-all solution for biodiversity loss. Rather it is a single item in the recovery toolbox. “Some people think if you have [species] in a freezer, you don’t need them in the wild,” says Seth Willey, a FWS deputy assistant regional director who heads the project’s pilot phase. “That’s just not true.... We can’t lose what we have in the wild. But if we do, it’s good to have an insurance policy.” More Earth Day coverage:  How the Environment Has Changed since the First Earth Day 50 Years Ago | 5 min read How Deep Is Your Carbon Footprint?--Celebrate Earth Day with Data | 4 min read

This black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) is the first endangered species in the U.S. to ever be successfully cloned and came from a cryogenically preserved cell line. Kika Tuff/Revive & Restore (CC BY 4.0)

TODAY'S NEWS

• The Biden administration is marking Earth Week with grants for solar power for lower-income communities, an expansion of the Climate Corps and Clean Air Act rules. | 4 min read

• Human brains may be getting bigger. | 4 min read

• This is what happens when people quit taking weightloss drugs. | 7 min read

• Researchers discovered the fossils of a giant snake species that likely lived 47 million years ago and reached nearly 50-feet long. (*shudders*) | 3 min read

More News

EXPERT PERSPECTIVES

• “Climate havens” are areas touted by researchers, public officials and city planners as natural refuges from extreme climate conditions, and include the Great Lakes region, upper Midwest and upper Northeast. But these regions will not be immune to the severe impacts of climate change, write Julie Arbit, Brad Bottoms and Earl Lewis, all researchers at the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan. On the contrary, cities in these locations will have to contend with some of the most extreme temperature and rainfall events to come, they say. | 5 min read

More Opinion

SPONSORED CONTENT BY ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY The conversation starts here. Our mandate is to keep the complex network of systems that make up our world in balance so that all life on Earth may thrive. This requires bringing all of our voices together to craft long-term, sustainable solutions. Join the conversation at globalfutures.asu.edu.

Every Earth Day (and often in between) I think of a segment from Carl Sagan's TV series "Cosmos." As a tiny blue dot grows into visibility on screen and becomes recognizable as Earth, Sagan tells us that the sum of all human experience, struggle, and joy has happened on our planet--a "very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." There is no indication, he says, "that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life." It was a message to his viewers (and even to us, 30 years later), that it is up to us to take care of the Earth and ourselves. This is our only home.

Thank you for caring for Earth by being a science lover! Reach out anytime with suggestions or feedback: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow!

—Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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