*By Mark Smith

From Acadia to Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon to Yosemite, national parks are jewels in America’s ecological crown.

The US has more than 60 national parks that support natural habitats and preserve plant and animal species. But one organization is on a mission to create a national park to dwarf them all—and it relies on everyday citizen gardeners to help make that dream a reality.

Homegrown National Park (HNP) is not located on any one site—it cannot be driven to or hiked through. But it is, quite literally, everywhere.

The brainchild of entomologist Douglas Tallamy and entrepreneur Michelle Alfandari, HNP is a nonprofit that encourages people to turn their own land into a park by planting native species in their gardens and around their homes.

On a deeper level, HNP also aims to transform culture by helping people think beyond “nice-looking” lawns and gardens. HNP wants them to see themselves as sustainers of the natural world through functions such as water purification, oxidative production, decomposition, and carbon sequestration.

Tallamy told The Earth & I: “In the US we’ve 44 million acres of lawn—that's the size of New England—which is dedicated to an ecological ‘dead scape’.”

“More and more people are talking about that. They’re asking, ‘How do I change that?’ And that's what we try to guide them through,” said Tallamy, who is TA Baker Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware.

The Need for Action

Tallamy said drastic action is needed to help combat what some scientists have labeled as Earth’s “sixth mass extinction event.” This refers to research indicating a “biological annihilation” of many species of wildlife over the last few decades and the ripple effect it has on other species. In the US, the introduction of non-native plants may look pleasant, but these plants are “unproductive” in that they do not support wider ecosystems of insects and birds, Tallamy said.

And while official green spaces, such as national parks, can help stem the tide of the damage, more action is needed, said Tallamy.

“We've got parks and ... preserves, [but] we're still in the sixth great extinction event that has ever occurred, which means [the parks and preserves] are not working, they're not good enough. So, we now have to practice conservation ... on private property, which means the private property owner is the future of conservation, and they don't know that.”

What Does It Involve?

At its most basic level, HNP is an interactive map that tracks the total area in the US—and now Canada—occupied by native plants that have been planted by contributors to the HNP.

HNP contributors include individuals, community groups, charities, churches, and anyone wishing to take part in planting one or more native plants. These plantings are represented on the map by a “firefly.” The map already has 40,001 fireflies.

The land could be something small, like a window box on an apartment balcony, or a church field, or a large plot of unused private land. The native plants that are sowed help support insects, birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife.

Tallamy said: “We're trying to encourage people to put their property on the [biodiversity] map. What they do is register where their location is and then the amount of area they plant with natives on their property. Then we record that.

“And then your little piece of your country will light up with a firefly. The object is to get the whole country to light up with a firefly. There's a little bit of competition involved as each state is color-coded, depending on how many people have joined.”

The aim is to eventually repurpose 20 million acres of private land in the US, but Tallamy concedes it will not necessarily mean everyone becomes an expert straight away.

“We are not going to convert everybody into master gardeners. That's not going to happen.” Tallamy added.

“But we do want them to realize what their property should be accomplishing, such as sequestering carbon or managing the watershed. It should be supporting the food web, and it should be supporting pollinators.

“And you can say, ‘Well, what can I do to my property to improve each one of those?’ That depends on where you live and how big a property is, but there's several things everybody can do.” 

Anyone wishing to get involved can also find information on what they should be growing, such as “keystone species” or plants that are the most ecologically productive in that specific part of the country.

Future Development

Tallamy had the original idea long before the site was launched in 2020 and said even in that time, he had noticed increased interest in conservation and preserving local ecosystems among everyday people.

At the moment, the HNP project only exists in the USA and Canada, but its goal is to cover the Earth.  

“We would love to expand this; it's really a global need. We need biodiversity everywhere, but the plants that will achieve those solutions are going to be different. But the concepts are the same everywhere.”

Tallamy and his colleagues are in the process of ranking plants at the genus level all over the world in terms of their ability to support food webs. So far, they have ranked Europe, North America, Australia, and India. They are working on Africa and have also ranked most of South America and Asia. This would enable the team to provide people in those countries with the best plants to introduce into their own local ecosystems.

But for HNP to officially spread to other countries, it needs investment.

“Part of the problem of not charging anybody is that we have no money!” Tallamy said. “It's the perennial problem of a nonprofit.”

“I got an email the other day from some guy who has just moved to Panama, and he wants to do this there,” he explained. “So, the will is there, but we need a bigger administration to be able to coordinate it. It took us a long time to get Canada to participate. But now they're up and running.”

A central part of the project is that even slight changes can contribute to a bigger, positive picture, and that is something Tallamy is eager to reiterate.

“It's a process. Nobody's going to do this overnight. If you plant one tree this year, you're headed in the right direction. And if you plant another one next year, that's two and it adds up, so it will happen over time. But you're not going to plant that one tree until you're convinced it's necessary to do that,” Tallamy said.

“It's not nature for nature’s sake—its nature for our sake.” Tallamy concluded.

“We are a part of nature. We depend on it,” he said. “Everybody on the planet requires ecosystem services, and we are decreasing the ability of ecosystems to provide those services every single day. We've got to turn that around. So, the object is to create ecosystem function right where we live, where we work, where we play—it's got to be everywhere.”

*Mark Smith is a journalist and author from the UK. He has written on subjects ranging from business and technology to world affairs, history, and popular culture for the Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, and magazines in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

The new technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is promising to transform the world’s relationship with computing. Its potential in multiple fields is astounding. However, like so many other innovations, this technology also threatens the environment due to its tremendous energy consumption.

Do the advantages of AI outweigh its potential environmental impact? Can the architects and developers of this technology find a way to mitigate this impact? Their response to this dilemma will significantly impact AI's future growth and role in society.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Like a lot of overused, high-tech jargon—e.g., cloud computing, metaverse, and the internet of things (IoT)—there may not be one universally recognized definition of AI. The University of Illinois at Chicago defines AI as "a branch of computer science that aims to create machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence."

More specifically, AI uses algorithms that analyze data to “learn,” or perform tasks based on that information, in a way that looks a lot like human intelligence. This might include functions such as understanding speech, recognizing faces, writing sentences, creating images, and yes, even driving cars.

AI is not a new concept. Stanford University professor John McCarthy is credited with having coined the term “artificial intelligence” in a proposal he co-authored in 1956. McCarthy gave credit to English mathematician Alan Turing, who gave a lecture on the subject in 1947 and later published a paper on it called, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.”

The field had yet to make any significant progress in the realm of the practical—until two years ago.

With the commercial availability in 2022 of sophisticated applications like ChatGPT, otherwise known as large language models (LLMs), AI made the leap from the mostly hypothetical to the actual.

The potential for AI in computing applications seems limitless. Software giant SAS says that features of AI, such as “automation, conversational platforms, bots, and smart machines, can be combined with large amounts of data to improve many technologies.”

These include home security, financial investment analysis, fraud detection in banking and accounting, cancer detection and other medical diagnoses, grid energy management, and much more.

The Downside of AI

Most breakthroughs come with a drawback. With AI, it is the enormous increase in energy consumption.

The development of the internet and, more recently, the surge in so-called cloud computing introduced the world to the new concept of data centers. These are large facilities filled with servers, or processors, where most of the world's everyday online computing actually takes place (as opposed to on desktops or onsite computer servers).

Understandably, these large concentrations of computing equipment under one roof consume vast amounts of electricity and generate an equally large amount of heat. Now that AI is going mainstream, the energy demands of these facilities are expected to balloon—data center traffic alone is expected to grow by a factor of 10 every two years, according to technology assurance company Spirent.

The reasons are rooted in the technology itself. Existing data center equipment runs on the same processing chips as the personal computers (PCs) that people use at home and in the office. These central processing units (CPUs) are constructed from billions of transistors and can have multiple processing cores.

Computing giant Intel explains that CPUs are the “brain” of a computer and are ”essential to all modern computing.”

Unfortunately, CPUs are not sufficient to support the computing needs of AI applications.

Enter the graphics processing unit, or GPU. Commercially available first in the 1990s, they were designed primarily for design and graphic applications, like image rendering, video editing, and gaming.

Today, GPUs can “deliver massive performance,” as Intel puts it, but this also means more demand for electricity, plus generation of heat, which requires more energy for cooling. The market research firm, Newmark, notes that GPUs “require up to 15 times the energy of traditional CPUs.”

Given that massive data centers will be incorporating GPU-enabled equipment to meet the growing demands of AI, the energy footprint of these data centers is going to explode.

In its 2023 study on the U.S. data center market, Newmark projects the need for computing resources to “increase exponentially” as a result of AI. It explains that the typical stack (“rack”) of computer servers in a data center for one business customer currently requires 10 to 14 kilowatts. The study projects the demands of AI to more than quadruple that figure, pushing the requirement to between 40 and 60 kilowatts per rack.

How Will Tech Companies Meet the Challenge?

This is where tech companies face a conundrum. The tech sector has embraced sustainable energy practices, and Apple, Google, and others have invested heavily into renewable energy resources and energy efficiency to reduce their carbon footprint.

But if these companies invest in ever-larger data centers that require greater amounts of energy and space to meet the demands of AI, how can they also meet their goals to reduce their energy footprint?

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that while Google and Microsoft have pledged to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, the opposite is occurring for the two tech giants—and AI is largely to blame.

According to WSJ, Google’s overall emissions increased by 13.5% from 2022 to 2023 and are up by nearly 50% since 2019. Google chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt and senior vice president Benedict Gomes responded to this, saying in a letter accompanying the company's annual sustainability report that “in spite of the progress we’re making, we face significant challenges that we’re actively working through.”

Microsoft's emissions have followed a similar trajectory as Google’s, increasing by 29% between 2020 and 2023.

Challenges Not Insurmountable

On the positive side, the challenges regarding data centers and AI are not insurmountable.

Companies have many remedies at their disposal to make AI more energy efficient. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reports that “new tools are available to help reduce the energy that AI models devour.”

For example, MIT's own Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center (LLSC) has found that by limiting or “capping” the amount of power a GPU is able to draw, energy consumption by AI is reduced by 12% to 15%. The only drawback to this technique is an increase in task completion time by about 3%, which according to Vijay Gadepally, senior staff at the LLSC, is “barely noticeable.”

Data center operators can also reduce the demand for computational power by optimizing the algorithms they employ to program their AI models. Less demand for computational power requires less energy consumption.

Other techniques, such as improvements to hardware, using smaller and less complex models, more efficient training techniques for AI models, optimizing the scheduling of AI computing, and moving computations closer to where data is stored (also known as “edge computing”), whether employed singularly or collectively, can increase the energy efficiency of AI computing and the data centers where it occurs.

‘Green Data Centers’

Another technique for reducing the carbon footprint of AI is to conduct the computing in so-called “green data centers.” The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) defines a green data center as a facility that performs the functions of a traditional data center “but in a more sustainable way.”

According to IEEE's definition, all the center's systems “are designed to consume less energy and minimize its environmental impact.” This includes computer, electrical, mechanical, and lighting systems.

They are designed and built, using low-emission construction materials and furnishings, to minimize building footprints. Perhaps most importantly, they utilize alternative energy sources, such as heat pumps or solar photovoltaic technology. Their design also incorporates responsible practices such as e-waste recycling. The energy savings of these green data centers can be significant, with some reports of savings as much as 40%.

Additionally, many proponents of AI argue that AI will help drastically increase energy efficiency in society broadly, and that these improvements will far outweigh any increase in its energy footprint.

For example, the WSJ also reports that Google has worked on an AI-powered tool that would help airplanes avoid generating contrails, which account for 57% of aviation’s global-warming impact.

The ‘Greening’ Effect of AI Data Centers

The Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), which is an association of electric energy solutions providers and other stakeholders operating in the Caribbean region, Central and South Americas, and globally, reports that AI can contribute to energy conservation in a number of ways.

For instance, AI can contribute to energy conservation by optimizing energy consumption in buildings, which account for nearly 40% of global energy consumption. CARILEC says AI can be used to adjust heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in real-time, ensuring that energy is only used when and where it is needed, which “can result in significant energy savings and reduced carbon emissions.”

There are other ways in which AI can help stop global warming, some of which may seem a little less obvious, but just as effective. A list compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) includes:

• Tracking patterns in iceberg melting.

• Mapping deforestation.

• Helping vulnerable communities adapt to climate change.

• Increasing waste recycling.

• Detailed mapping of ocean waste.

• Predicting climate disasters.

• Improving weather forecasting and wind patterns for better wind energy generation.

• Tracking platforms to help industries reduce their emissions.

• Using drones to disperse seeds for Brazilian reforestation.

If some of WEF's solutions seem far-fetched, another proposal may seem totally out of this world, by comparison.

Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between two European defense, security and transportation system providers, Thales and Leonardo. In June 2024, the partnership announced the results of its ASCEND (Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty) feasibility study of data centers in outer space.

According to the study, orbiting platforms could save energy. For example, they would consume power generated by solar panels that are located outside the Earth's atmosphere, and they would be much easier to cool than data centers on the ground because space is much colder than Earth. (See the news brief "European Plan to Lower AI Energy Bill Is Out of This World" in this The Earth & I issue).

Technology Moves Quickly and in Surprising Ways

Barely two years ago, AI broke through the barrier of imagination to become a transformative force for technological innovation, and the hype is far from subsiding.

With that breakthrough, the carbon footprint of AI is already significant and something that cannot be overlooked as the world grapples with the challenge of climate change.

Just as other powerful innovations, like smart phones, electric cars, windmills, and rooftop solar panels, have grappled with their own unique set of environmental challenges to balance their benefits with their impact, AI needs to do the same.

*Rick Laezman is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California. He has a passion for energy efficiency and innovation. He has been covering renewable power and other related subjects for more than ten years.

Human beings have long been fascinated and motivated by the idea of planetary influences on their lives. From the creation of astrological charts to investigations of lunar impacts on female menstrual cycles and tides, when people look skyward today, they are often reminded of an extraordinary force at work in the universe and human affairs.

What does Astrology have to say about these phenomena? And does it deserve a seat at the scientific table as correlations suggest? And what do the latest discoveries of Planetary Science tell us about Earth’s unique role in the cosmos?

Dr. William Keepin, co-founder of the Satyana Institute in Seattle, and Dr. Takahiro Hiroi, planetary scientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, addressed these and other questions at the Second International Conference on Science and God (ICSG II) in 2021. They shared intriguing findings from the fields of astrology and planetary science, and called for a new scientific model that can accommodate unexpected (anomalous) phenomena—phenomena that continue to spark debate and inspire new research in each of these fields.

The following are edited excerpts of Dr. Keepin’s presentation, followed by Dr. Hiroi’s commentary, from ICSG II. The ICSG series is sponsored by the Hyo Jeong International Foundation for Environmental Peace, publisher of The Earth & I.

Dr. Keepin: The French statisticians Michel and Francoise Gauquelin set out to disprove astrology once and for all 70 years ago, using rigorous statistical analysis. Yet to their complete shock, they discovered several statistically significant correlations linking the position of specific planets (relative to the Earth) at the birth times of eminent leaders in various fields: Mars for sports champions [the “Mars effect”], Saturn for scientists, Jupiter for actors and politicians, and the Moon for writers. Their data exhibited a relatively weak effect, yet it was highly significant with a probability of occurring by chance of less than 1 in 5 million.

Since then, numerous scientific research studies utilizing greatly improved methods and superior computing power have unearthed many statistically significant correlations between planetary positions and human affairs. Taken together, these studies by mathematician Kyösti Tarvainen and several others provide strong statistical support for nearly all constituents of traditional astrology. Of course, correlation does not imply causation, and these findings remain unexplained theoretically.

A widely publicized study published in Nature by Shawn Carlson in 1985 reported that astrologers “failed to perform at better than chance levels” in matching horoscope charts with the biographies of human subjects (Carlson, 1985). However, this study was later re-analyzed by both Suitbert Ertel (2009) and Robert Currey (2011), both of whom found key errors in Carlson’s data analysis. When corrected, the study’s conclusions were overturned, and actually demonstrate modest statistical support for astrology. Nevertheless, Nature has yet to publish a retraction, and the Carlson study is still often erroneously cited as the “definitive” study that supposedly refutes astrology.

The Carlson study in Nature was recently superceded altogether by an “expert system” [an AI computer program designed to mimic human thought processes], which now simulates a full astrological chart reading, essentially replacing a human astrologer and thereby eliminating bias, intuition, psychic perception, or “cold reading.” This system (called Mastro) was applied in automated blind-matching studies conducted with 73 celebrities, and it successfully matched astrological horoscope charts to their owners, using keywords from published biographies, with a probability by chance of 5 in 10,000. Because “human intervention was eliminated from the match-making and the evidence far exceeds chance, this study suggests that there is an objective basis for astrology” (Godbout 2020, 2021).

Extensive clinical research conducted by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, Richard Tarnas, and others has shown that certain astrological indicators, known as planetary transits (defined as shifting angular relationships between planets over time), provide an extremely practical tool for accurate prediction of the precise timing and archetypal character of their clients’ psychological experiences in deep experiential psychotherapy sessions. These researchers found that different types of psychological experience are closely correlated with specific positions and movements of the planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, in relation to the astrological birth charts of their clients.

Difficult as it may be for some to believe, these astrological transits have proven to be far more accurate and valuable in the clinical practice of experiential psychotherapy than any of the standard psychological and personality profile tests.

Taken together, these research findings could precipitate a new scientific revolution in our understanding of the cosmos and its relation to humanity (Keepin, 2025).

Bohm’s Holomovement and Indra’s Net

A key question arises here: how could planets or stars possibly have anything to do with human affairs? One plausible explanation of how astrology works begins with quantum theory.

Physicist David Bohm published a radical reformulation of quantum physics in 1952 based on nonlocality and entanglement, which Einstein famously rejected as “spooky action at a distance.” Bohm’s pioneering work led physicist John Bell to develop his famous Bell’s theorem, which in turn led to nearly 50 years of increasingly refined experimental tests that consistently upheld quantum mechanics and nonlocality. Seventy years after Bohm’s seminal paper, the 2022 Nobel prize in physics was awarded to three experimentalists who proved that nonlocal quantum entanglement—Einstein’s dreaded “spooky action at a distance”—is in fact real and forms the basis for today’s pioneering “second quantum revolution.” (As an aside, the term “quantum entanglement” seems a misnomer, because it suggests a disordered jumble or knot. If we may borrow from Thich Nhat Hanh, we might instead characterize this as “quantum interbeing.”)

Bohm subsequently formulated his elegant “holomovement” theory, proposing that the cosmos is “a single undivided wholeness, in flowing movement,” in which “everything is connected to everything else” (Bohm, 1980). The holomovement embraces both known and unknown depths (of dark matter and dark energy), and seamlessly weaves together the physical (matter-energy) domain with the consciousness domain into a single unified holographic cosmos (Bohm and Hiley, 1993).

Bohm’s holomovement was anticipated in an earlier era by Hindu and Buddhist mystics, as expressed in the ancient metaphor known as Indra’s Net: Reality is imaged as an infinite net of magnificent glistening jewels, such that if you look into the facets of any one jewel, you see all the other jewels reflected there. Furthermore, if you look into any of the reflected jewels, you see all the other jewels reflected in that reflection. It’s a vast fractal cosmos of worlds of infinities contained within worlds of infinities, representing a single holographic spiritual-material unity of cosmos and consciousness—at every scale from the infinitesimal to the Infinite.

When first encountering Indra’s Net, people generally visualize the jewels as all the same size, and stationary—as depicted in the representative image of Indra’s Net below.

Let us now add space and time, which means we introduce both spatial and temporal variation into the net. This gets the jewels all swirling around, and they vary in size from tiny atoms to human-sized jewels, to planet- and star-sized jewels. Now if you gaze into the facets of any one jewel as it moves through space, you will see the vast universe of whirling jewels, precisely replicated in dynamic miniature, inside that jewel. Each jewel thus “contains” the entire cosmic dynamism, which unfolds in holographic synchrony on multiple scales of space, time, and consciousness simultaneously. This gives rise to the observed correlations between celestial and terrestrial domains at all scales, right down to the individual human being, who is evidently a walking miniature cosmos.

In summary: take Indra’s Net, dip it into space-time, and you necessarily get an astrological hermeneutic. In my view, this is a deeper implication and practical application of David Bohm’s holomovement, which combines nonlocal quantum interbeing, known and unknown (dark) matter and energy, and fractal geometry—to holographically interweave all matter, energy, and consciousness into an intricate, undivided, cosmos of fractal interbeing at every level and scale of existence. As Rumi aptly sums it up, “the secret turning in your heart is the entire universe turning.”

Does Planetary Science Suggest Metaphysical Implications?

Dr. Hiroi’s commentary on Dr. Keepin’s address follows below, inspired by Keepin’s evidence from astrology suggesting planetary influences on human affairs.

Dr. Hiroi: Thank you, Dr. Keepin, for your insightful presentation. As an example of the need for a new scientific model, I would like to share a few facts from my specialty, planetary science.

The Significance of Earth’s Large Moon

After Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969 and returned to Earth with a collection of lunar samples, scientists discovered that the average oxygen isotope composition of lunar materials is identical to that of Earth’s materials.

This finding allowed scientists to narrow down the available models for the origin of the Moon to the “giant impact hypothesis” that a Mars-sized body collided with early Earth at a slanted angle, dislodging and dispatching earthly material that would come to form the Moon.

The Apollo 11 team also left a device on the Moon called a laser ranging retroreflector to measure the precise distance between Earth and Moon, which is currently widening by 3.8 cm (nearly 1.5 in) per year. The Moon was once much closer to Earth, but it kept moving away from the Earth by the tidal effect that transferred Earth’s rotational momentum to the Moon while slowing down Earth’s spin.

The existence of one large Moon kept Earth’s spin axis inclination highly stable, at 22–25 degrees, over the entire Earth-Moon history. This fact, along with the existence of ocean and an atmosphere, kept the temperature distribution on Earth more uniform, making its environment ideal for life over billions of years.

Unique Characteristics of Earth

Land and Ocean: Earth has both land and ocean, which is a unique combination of features among known planets. This feature can be indispensable for intelligent (science-capable) life to emerge. Without an ocean, life would not have been born at all, and without land, humankind would not have emerged.

Magnetic Field: Earth’s magnetic field is generated by molten iron spinning in the outer core, which protects life from harmful solar wind (energetic positive ions). To generate this strong magnetic field, the Earth needs a certain amount of iron and radioactive materials as a heat source to melt iron.

Plate Tectonics: Earth is the only planet known to have active plate tectonics. This feature allows for the supply and circulation of necessary elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen to develop and sustain the atmosphere, ocean, and life.

Earth-Moon System: Ideal for Scientific Exploration

Solar System in the Milky Way:

Earth’s atmosphere is transparent mostly over the visible and near-infrared wavelength range, allowing humans to observe celestial bodies. The Solar System is currently located between two major arms of a spiral galaxy called the Milky Way, and the Earth revolves around the Sun on a plane that is significantly inclined from the galactic plane. As a result, we are able to direct our telescopes in a dark sky in various orientations to study the galactic structure and farthest stars born in the early universe.

Solar Eclipse: The Moon has been moving away from Earth over the last 4.5 billion years, and its current size, as we perceive it from our perspective on Earth, coincides with that of the Sun. When the Sun is darkened by a solar eclipse (see video), astronomers can observe the light of a star that is on the other side of the Sun. Through this, scientists were able to prove one feature of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, namely, that light can be bent by gravity.

Lunar surface: Numerous craters on the Moon record the history of past impact events not only on the Moon but also on Earth, where they have largely been lost. The lunar surface is an ideal classroom to study space weathering, which chemically or structurally alters materials via solar wind implantation and UV irradiation, and micrometeorite bombardments.

Space Exploration: The Moon is also a promising place for the expansion of human exploration into space, as a source of necessary materials such as water (ice) and oxygen, and nuclear energy through helium-3. In addition, the Earth-Moon orbit can be used by a relay station (such as NASA’s Gateway) for transportation between Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Antarctica: Time Capsule of Earth and the Solar System

Humanity’s knowledge of the Solar System’s history has been greatly enhanced by studying meteorites, which include fragments of leftover planetesimals, the building blocks of planets. Tens of thousands of meteorites have been found in Antarctica. Those meteorites fell and sank into Antarctic ice, remained frozen, moved with the ice, and accumulated at the feet of mountains, where they were exposed when surface ice was evaporated by the heat and light of the Sun. Antarctica has also retained ancient air and water, allowing scientists to derive the history of past atmospheric temperatures.

However, Antarctica was not always in its current position on the planet. It moved from the north pole to the south pole and formed its icy layer only within the last 50 million years or so, and it may move away from there in the future. With this in mind, it is interesting that humankind emerged and explored Antarctica at just the right time to learn and benefit from its qualities and contributions.

Dr. William Keepin is co-founder of the Satyana Institute, Seattle, USA and Gender Equity and Reconciliation International. He is the author of Belonging to God and Divine Duality, and co-author of Song of the Earth and Gender Equity and Reconciliation. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics.

Dr. Takahiro Hiroi is Senior Research Scientist at Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He specializes in spectroscopy of meteorites and asteroids and holds a PhD in Mineralogy, The University of Tokyo.

References

Keepin, W. 2025. It’s About Time: Science is Finally Validating Traditional Astrology, in press, 2025.

*By Julie Peterson

Nearly every country serves up a creamy, whole-grain porridge. It may be called grits, oatmeal, congee, okayu, jok, kheer, arroz caldo, chao ga, farina, or hares … the list almost has no end.

Porridge is a go-to dish when the air starts to chill and the windows are about to turn frosty, or when there is strenuous labor ahead and hours of sustained energy are needed. Sweet or savory, porridge has many wondrous aromas and tastes. Some say it even brings back memories of being nurtured as a child. 

Commonly eaten for breakfast, porridge is easy to make by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants—typically grain—in water or milk. Flavorings such as sugar, butter, honey, or fruit can be added for sweetness. However, porridge is just as often served as a savory dish topped with fish, meat, or vegetables. Sweet or savory, a hot bowl of porridge isn’t always for breakfast. It can satisfy any time of day as a snack or a meal.

History of Porridge

Oatmeal is the most common porridge, and humanity’s paleolithic ancestors were making it 32,000 years ago, according to Marta Mariotti Lippi at the University of Florence in Italy. Lippi analyzed starch grains on an ancient stone grinding tool discovered in southern Italy and found processed oats. Many scientists believe that if grinding stones from elsewhere are similarly analyzed, additional evidence of ground grains will be discovered—perhaps even earlier than Lippi’s discovery.

Porridge made from ground wheat, barley, or rye is called farina and is thought to have originated thousands of years ago in ancient civilizations like Egypt and Mesopotamia (now Iraq, Kuwait, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and parts of Iran and Saudi Arabia). Farina is cooked in water over low heat for about 15 minutes to produce a smooth consistency. Since it contains all parts of the grain, it offers B vitamins, fiber, and protein along with many minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Although farina had been eaten for millennia, in 1893, Cream of Wheat cereal was “invented” in North Dakota in the United States. The boxed cereal continues to be popular for its convenience and low cost and includes instant varieties that contain fortified pre-cooked cereal. Porridge made with more liquid such that it can be drunk from a mug is often called gruel.

Grinding Grains

Ancient peoples had to harvest wild grains and grind them with stones. They also had to build a fire and gather water before they could make a batch of porridge. Today, farmed grains can be purchased as ready-to-prepare instant cereals. However, some people like to mill (grind) grains at home to retain the highest level of nutrition and flavor. This could be an article unto itself: finding and choosing the whole grains, selecting a grain mill, and learning how to mill the grains into the desired coarseness. There are advantages (grain choice, nutrition, no additives, flavor profile) and disadvantages (time, storage, learning curve). Many bakers and cooks are happy to share their experiences and resources on milling grain at home. 

Recipes for Grains, Roots, and Dal

Oats are now cultivated and consumed worldwide. Nutritionally, oat porridge offers fiber, which has been proven to lower cholesterol and help prevent diabetes. Oats can improve gut microbiota, have immune modulating properties, and assist in preventing some forms of cancer, atherosclerosis, and dermatitis.

There is no shortage of recipes. From the most basic oatmeal to creative ingredients like miso, rhubarb, figs, pumpkin, goji berries, asparagus, matcha, and chocolate, one could prepare a different oat porridge every day for a year.

Rice porridge is also common in many cultures and has many names. Congee has been made for thousands of years in China. In Japan, it’s kayu.

In Bangkok, Thailand, travel blogger Preamtip Satasuk grew up eating a rice porridge called jok (pronounced “joke”). When asked for her “authentic family recipe,” she responded with a long pause, a funny face, and said: “There’s no recipe.” This is a common answer from people who grew up learning to cook from parents and grandparents. There is no written recipe; ingredients aren’t measured. It is just made, and those who are in the kitchen learn by watching and helping and tasting. Gradually, Satasuk wrote down her method for making jok.

Thai Jok

By Preamtip Satasuk

One serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup leftover Jasmine rice (overnight or day-old)

• 3 cups water

• Marinated ground pork, formed into little balls

• Marinade: garlic soy sauce, oyster sauce, lots of black pepper

• Fresh ginger, chopped

• Fresh chives

• 1 egg

• Fish sauce (optional)

Directions: 

Cook the leftover rice in water for 30 minutes to an hour. The trick is to stir continuously. When the water has gone down, pour in more water and keep stirring until the rice grains have lost their shape. Start to add the pork balls to the pot. Stir and keep heating until it’s the desired consistency. Top with ginger and chives, and crack a fresh egg on top (the heat will soft cook the egg), and serve. For a saltier flavor, add some fish sauce.

Rice porridge can also be made in a slow cooker or rice cooker. Heidi Langan, a food enthusiast and world traveler, loves to recreate recipes she has enjoyed at restaurants. She developed her rice cooker congee for convenience and adds savory or crunchy toppings she has on hand.

Rice Cooker Congee

By Heidi Langan

One serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white rice

• 5 cups water

• Soy sauce

• Black sesame seeds

• 1 egg, fried

• Smoked salmon (or any meat)

• Green onions, chopped (or any crunchy veggie)

Directions:

Cook the rice and water in rice cooker for about 8 hours or until the porridge is gelatinous. Top with a drizzle of soy sauce, black sesame seeds, fried egg, meat, and vegetables, and serve.

More Classic Takes on Rice Porridge

Going beyond rice and oats, one might choose chewier and denser whole grains. Deryn Macey provides a comprehensive guide to nutrition and flavor profiles, how to prepare, and what to mix in to her whole grain porridge recipes on Running on Real Food. She includes healthful whole grains such as buckwheat groats, barley, amaranth, sorghum, and cracked freekeh. 

Busy people often gravitate toward quick foods but sacrifice nutrition. For healthful quick-cooking porridge options, an internet search for “porridge grains” will produce myriad hot cereal mixes that can be made in the microwave.

There are single grains such as farro, millet, and oats. There are also blends that incorporate as many as 10 grains. Check out the nutrition profiles of blended grains that might include spelt, teff, rye, barley, brown rice, wheat, and more for the best balance of vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Toss a handful of berries and a spoonful of honey into the bowl before eating to boost flavor and nutrition.

Porridges in some cultures are made from root vegetables (arrowroot, cassava, sweet potato, parsnips, etc.) or with dal (lentils, peas, or beans). A combination of butternut squash, sweet potato, and parsnips make up this Curried Coconut Root Vegetable Porridge.

For an Indian take on porridge that includes dal, see the author of India’s most popular vegetarian food blog, Dassana Amit. Her khichdi with rice and yellow mung lentils has a plethora of options for flavor. In its simplest form, the classic Indian dish is recommended for anyone recovering from illness because it is nutrient-rich and easy to digest.

And don’t forget porridges made with maize (corn), commonly referred to as grits or hominy. Porridge can also be made from cornmeal, but grits purists say that is not grits—true grits must start with stoneground corn. Try a classic grits recipe made with stock and butter, and then venture into recipes for grits with cheese, mushrooms, turnip greens, shrimp, pulled pork, along with a variety of cooking methods.

Porridge is a Winner

Passion for porridge turns serious when contenders vie for the trophy at the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship. Both basic oats and specialty porridge competitions take place with some of the recipes posted online. While specialty dishes may be lazy weekend options, the time may be worth the flavor. Try porridges like Sacher Torte or Blueberry Cheesecake. The 2020 Second Place winner, Lisa Williams, says her Pinoat Butter, Honey Bananas and Chocolate porridge is a favorite of kids and “a hug in a bowl.”                                         

Such a nutritious and versatile dish can easily become a diet staple. Since variety is the spice of life and one can always use a little more nutrition, give a new type of porridge a stir, add some healthy twists and create a family tradition with this timeless global comfort food. Go all in, get a spurtle (a Scottish wooden kitchen tool for stirring porridge), and be sure to mark the calendar to celebrate World Porridge Day, October 10, with a favorite bowl of “gruelly” goodness.

*Julie Peterson writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from her organic farm in Wisconsin. 

The June 2024 report of the Biden Administration’s Ocean Climate Action initiative highlighted progress in ocean-related enterprises, including expansion of offshore wind energy, reduction of plastic pollution, and the protection and restoration of blue carbon. This initiative is supported by organizations such as the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification, National Wildlife Federation, and EarthEcho International.  

1. In April 2024, the Department of Interior (DOI) approved projects totaling more than 10 GW of renewable offshore power. 

2. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued leases totaling over 1 million acres in the New York Bight (over 488,000 acres), Carolina Long Bay (~110,000 acres), Gulf of Mexico (~410,000 acres), and California (Pacific Ocean, ~373,000 acres) for offshore wind development. 

3. DOI withdrew 2.8 million acres in the Beaufort Sea from oil and gas drilling and expanded protections for 13 million acres of Special Areas in the Western Arctic from new oil and gas leasing. 

4. The Environmental Protection Agency announced $3 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for the Clean Ports Program as part of the Administration’s goal to achieve zero-emission shipping and freight by 2050 and a 30% reduction by 2030. 

5. As part of the Administration’s goal to eliminate the release of plastic into the environment by 2040, it allocated over $1.1 billion to combat plastic pollution and marine debris in 2020–2024. 

6. The Administration allocated $30 million to support sanctuary designations, as well as $50 million to sanctuary infrastructures, as part of its “America the Beautiful” initiative. Its goal is to conserve and protect at least 30% of US lands and waters by 2030. 

7. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association allocated $349 million to support climate-ready fisheries, including $40 million for pilot projects. 

Source: 

• Ocean Climate Action Report  

Orbiting data centers could deliver more sustainability than their Earth-based counterparts, says a newly released feasibility study by Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture European aerospace company. 

Supplying sustainable energy for servers that process nearly incalculable numbers of AI, cryptocurrency, and blockchain transactions is a pressing environmental challenge. But this is a challenge that needs to be met if Europe hopes to meet its target of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.  

Along with orbiting solar-powered servers’ potential to lower emissions through energy savings, Thales Alenia Space expects them to deliver a return on investment of several billion euros by 2050, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). 

The company’s feasibility study is comparing the environmental impacts of space-based data centers—powered by solar energy accessed beyond Earth’s atmosphere—to those of Earth-based data centers, said WSJ. Called ASCEND, short for “Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty,” the project was launched in 2023 and is funded by the European Commission. 

The study’s head, Damien Dumestier, said the company has been coordinating “a consortium of 11 partners since January 2023” with an initial focus on the carbon footprint of Europe’s land-based data centers. He said the team already calculated the continent’s terrestrial data center CO2 equivalent consumption at 20 million tons per year from now until 2030. The ultimate goal, he said, is to target a power capacity of “10 Terawatt-hours (TWh) to cut the energy requirements of Earth-based data centers by 10%.”  

Dumestier cited other environmental benefits of housing servers in space. Water consumption, he said, would be “greatly” reduced as space is relatively cold. Keeping servers cool on Earth currently requires “several tens of millions of liters” of water every year, he said.   

The project envisions a capacity of 10 MW (megawatts) per orbiting data center, which Dumestier said would require a solar panel surface area of about 35,000 square meters (nearly 377,000 sq. ft). He compared that with the 7,500 square meter (about 80,700 sq. ft) solar panel surface area of the International Space Station, which is nearly one fifth its size.  

The orbiting modules required for such a task would be large and heavy, said Dumestier. “We need to make sure that a suitable launch solution can be developed and that the overall structure is as light as possible to minimize the carbon footprint of launch operations. Optimizing payload weight and volume will also be a key challenge,” he added.  

In a June press release announcing the feasibility study’s findings, the company said ASCEND, with help from aerospace launch company ArianeGroup and the European Space Agency, has “validated the feasibility of a launcher capable of conducting multiple launches while mitigating their carbon footprint.” The company said modular units comprising the data centers could be assembled in orbit using robotics. 

Dumestier believes projects like ASCEND can advance space technology while lowering the environmental impact of digital technology. Space, he says, is “vital” for Earth’s future. “It offers multiple possibilities to complement terrestrial infrastructures. And it’s an unparalleled asset to better manage the delicate balance between developing human activities and protecting the environment.” 

Sources: 

• WSJ: Putting data centers in space could reduce their carbon footprint 

• Thales Alenia Space wins EU feasibility study for 'Ascend' space data centers - DCD (datacenterdynamics.com) 

• Thales Alenia Space reveals results of ASCEND feasibility study on space data centers | Thales Alenia Space 

*By Alina Bradford

Vegetarianism has existed for centuries—both the world’s oldest religion, Hinduism, and Buddhism, founded in 400 BCE, have recommended a plant-based diet since their inceptions, researchers said in a 2014 study.

In modern times, the term “plant-based diet” emerged in the 1980s, but it wasn’t until around 2015 that the idea began to spread quickly, according to marketing agency Mintel, which tracks consumer products and trends.

The growing popularity of plant-based foods is fueled by many reasons but especially health concerns related to eating meat, dairy, and other foods, as well as the environmental impacts of meat production. A 2019 survey reported that 40% of global consumers are trying to reduce their consumption of animal proteins. This, in turn, is attracting new plant-based foods to market—research from Mintel’s Global New Products Database predicts that the plant-based goods market could grow to $160 billion by 2030.

What Are the Different Types of a Plant-based Diet?

A plant-based diet primarily consists of foods made from fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. While this diet doesn't mean complete avoidance of animal products, its goal is to eat more of what comes directly from plants and less of what comes from animals.

Here’s how plant-based diets work, their potential benefits, and ways to incorporate plant-based concepts into a person’s eating habits.

Plant-based diets can take several forms. Probably best-known is the vegetarian diet, which excludes meat, fish, and poultry, but there are variations that are still considered vegetarian:

• Lacto-vegetarian: Includes dairy products.

• Ovo-vegetarian: Includes eggs.

• Lacto-ovo vegetarian: Includes dairy products and eggs.

  
  

Some other popular plant-based diets include:

• Vegan diet: Excludes all animal products, including dairy, eggs, and honey

• Pescatarian diet: Includes fish and other seafood but excludes meat and poultry

• Flexitarian diet: Primarily vegetarian with occasional inclusion of meat and fish

No matter how meat enters the equation, the standard foods included in a plant-based diet are:

• Fruits and vegetables: Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants

• Whole grains: Provide essential fiber and nutrients

• Legumes: High in protein and fiber

• Nuts and seeds: Offer healthy fats and protein           

Just How Healthy Is a Plant-based Diet?

A recent umbrella study consolidated findings from 48 studies published between 2000 and 2023 on plant-based diets and their health impacts. The researchers cautioned that there are significant gaps in knowledge that must be addressed. However, their study indicates that plant-based diets are linked to better health outcomes, such as less risk of cancer, a better lipid profile and glycemic control, lower body weight, less inflammation, lower mortality from cardiovascular diseases, and a lower risk of ischemic heart disease.

Vandana Sheth, RDN, CDCES, FAND, an award-winning registered dietician and public speaker on diabetes and plant-based diets, says that “key health markers” are used to assess health outcomes.

These markers “include lower blood pressure, lower body mass index, improved cholesterol levels, inflammation/pain, and improved blood glucose,” she says. “These positive benefits are mainly due to the high fiber, antioxidant and phytonutrient content found in plant foods.”

Here are some ways that a plant-based diet can improve health:

• Obesity: Plant-based diets are typically lower in calories and higher in fiber, thus aiding weight management.

• Blood Pressure: High potassium and low sodium content in plant foods help regulate blood pressure.

• Cholesterol: Soluble fiber in legumes, fruits, and vegetables helps reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol.

• Mental Health: Nutrient-rich plant foods support brain health, potentially reducing the risk of depression and cognitive decline. [See The Earth & I, Feb. 2024]

• Inflammation: Anti-inflammatory properties of plant foods can alleviate symptoms of arthritis and asthma.

Although the statistical associations between plant-based diets and improved health are robust, questions remain. “The research is complicated,” says Elizabeth Nix, Ph.D., RDN, an assistant professor of nutrition in Ohio Wesleyan's Department of Health and Human Kinetics. “For years, there have been observational studies that show an association between plant-based diets and health, but association does not mean causation, and many criticize these statistics citing that participants following a plant-based diet might have other reasons for their positive health outcomes, such as having a higher income, being more health-conscious, and eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.”

Meat-based Diets and Health Outcomes

Nix explains that most studies compare vegan or plant-based diets to common low-fat, low-calorie diets, such as the Mediterranean or DASH diets. “It’s unclear what it is about meat products that might increase risks of disease,” says Nix. “For a long time, nutritionists and popular media villainized the saturated fat found in meat as being the unhealthy component, but a lot of new research doesn’t really support that saturated fat is unhealthy per se; it depends more on the food source.”

Besides saturated fats, other another suspected culprit are the nitrosamines found in meats—i.e., compounds developed during the curing and cooking of meats with nitrates.

“However, history has taught us that trying to identify the one ‘bad’ component of a food often leads to confusion, misunderstanding, and ‘franken-foods’ as the food industry tries to counteract the one bad food component while trying to keep all the yummy things intact,” says Nix. “In fact, many commercially produced cured meats have stopped using isolated nitrites and nitrates, with the new, bold packaging of ‘uncured’ on things like turkey, ham, maybe even hot dogs. Don’t be fooled, these products still have nitrites and nitrates in the form of celery salt, a naturally occurring nitrate product. The truth is, we just eat too much meat, and we have developed the cheapest possible way of doing it.”

Sheth takes a different view. She states that there are several factors that may be associated with meat-based diets leading to poor health outcomes:

• High intake of red and processed meats has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

• Quality matters. Low-quality meats often contain higher levels of unhealthy fats and are less nutrient-dense.

• Processed meats often contain additives and preservatives that may be linked to cancer.

• Grilling or frying meats can produce higher levels of harmful compounds.

“It's a combination of these factors that contribute to the negative health outcomes associated with meat-heavy diets,” says Sheth. “The problem is not just the meat itself, but the overall lifestyle factors and dietary patterns that contribute to the health outcomes.”

Limitations of Plant-based and Meat-based Diets

Both plant-based and meat-based diets have their limitations. Plant-based diets can lead to potential nutrient deficiencies without careful planning, while meat-based diets can lead to less fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are typically provided by vegetables and fruits.

Nix says that the nutritional limitations of a plant-based diet depend on what is eaten. A few micronutrients are often limited in a vegan diet, including iron, vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D. If someone is consuming dairy and eggs, though, these nutrients are likely not a concern. Iron deficiency anemia is particularly a problem—it is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies worldwide.

“Men are at a low risk of iron deficiency and are likely to have few problems with iron when adopting a plant-based diet,” says Nix. But “women who are menstruating or pregnant should be cautious when adopting a vegan diet and regularly check their iron levels.”

Despite the risk of these deficiencies, many researchers still believe the health benefits outweigh the potential risk of deficiency. Vitamin B12 is available in supplements, fortified foods, and as an injection. Many vegan food products are now fortified with B12, but it’s a good idea to get an annual injection of B12 for anyone adopting a fully plant-based diet, recommends Nix.

While there is concern that vegans don’t consume enough protein, Nix says, “This is a myth.”

“Most Americans are consuming way more protein than they actually need. A plant-based diet can provide enough protein, even for active individuals,” she says.

Plant proteins, with the exception of soy, are considered incomplete proteins, meaning they are missing one or more of the essential amino acids, explains Nix. However, if someone is getting a varied diet, they are likely getting the missing amino acids from something else. For example, grains often lack lysine, which are abundant in beans, but beans are a poor source of methionine, which is found in grains. These are called complementary proteins. It’s not crucial to pair these for every meal, but each day someone who is vegan should try to get a variety of grains and beans that complement each other. Vegans should consistently ensure they are eating good sources of plant protein.

Some great, minimally processed sources of protein include:

• Tofu

• Beans

• Lentils

• Peas

• Nuts

• Seeds 

Plant-Based ‘Meats’: Yay or Nay?                                    

Plant-based meats are becoming more and more popular as a convenient alternative for those transitioning away from animal products. However, they often contain processed ingredients and may not offer the same health benefits as whole plant foods; moderation is key.

“Many people want to ensure they are getting only these minimally processed foods, but if your lifestyle is complex and busy, these foods can be time-consuming,” says Nix. “While it’s less ideal, healthwise, the busy vegan may opt for some plant-based ‘meat’ products that may help with time or family tastes."

These options may not provide all the same health benefits as eating whole plant foods, but they are still a more planet-friendly option than meats.”

“Some of the plant-based meat alternatives are fortified with essential nutrients, such as iron and vitamin B12, which are important for those following a plant-based diet,” says Sheth. “However, there are quite a few choices and it's important to read nutrition labels carefully to find those made from high-quality ingredients. Also, enjoy these as part of a well-balanced diet that is rich in plant foods.”

Strategies to Eat More Plant-Forward

When it comes to introducing plant-forward eating, Sheth offers these tips to get started:

• Start slow, try one plant-based meal as part of the meal rotation.

• Consider doing Meatless Mondays.

• Be creative and try new recipes.

• Start the day with a smoothie bowl (see image below), followed by lentil soup and salad for lunch, and a tofu and vegetable stir fry served over quinoa for dinner. 

• For snacks, enjoy some veggies with hummus or fruit with some nuts.

Transitioning to a plant-based diet can be a rewarding step towards better health. With careful planning, it’s now easier than ever to embrace plant-forward eating thanks to its growing popularity as the “it” diet.

*Alina Bradford is a safety and security expert who has contributed to CBS, MTV, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, and more. She is currently the editorial lead at SafeWise.com.

*By Yasmin Prabhudas

What Do ‘Green’ Labels Mean? 

It is now common to see products with labels that indicate eco-friendly manufacturing or handling processes, such as “green,” “organic,” “sustainable,” “biodegradable,” etc.  

Such “green” labels are designed to appeal to the responsible consumer hoping to minimize their impact on the environment. These “ecolabels”—which presume independent certification—may also enhance the perceived value of the products, and encourage a consumer’s willingness to pay more for a labeled product than one without a label.  

But it can be challenging to navigate these labels. What do they mean? Are companies delivering on their eco-friendly promises, and do they live up to consumers’ expectations? 

A 2020 European Union (EU) Commission study found that 53.3% of the environmental claims (80 out of 150) that were investigated in EU member states were vague, misleading, or unfounded, while 40% were unsubstantiated. 

Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the European Green Deal, a European Commission initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said: “Green claims are everywhere: ocean-friendly t-shirts, carbon-neutral bananas, bee-friendly juices, 100% CO2-compensated deliveries, and so on. Unfortunately, way too often these claims are made with no evidence and justification whatsoever. […] Many Europeans want to contribute to a more sustainable world through their purchases. They need to be able to trust the claims made.” 

A. ‘Organic’ in Foods 

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), a product can be labeled “organic” if it fulfils certain criteria. For example, produce and grains must be produced using only natural fertilizers and pest control methods that do not harm the environment. For meat, dairy and eggs, animals must be well-treated, able to roam freely in the open air, and be free of growth hormones and antibiotics. 

Organic packaged goods must not contain genetically modified organisms, must be traceable from farm to store, and must be free of artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. 

However, the USDA “organic” seal does not require 100% organic ingredients: Products made with 95% certified organic ingredients, by weight or fluid volume (excluding water and salt), can be labeled organic if the remaining 5%  is organically produced under certain conditions. 

Other products can be labeled as “made with organic [components]” when at least 70% of their ingredients are organically produced, with the remaining 30% meeting “other production requirements.” If the organic content is under 70%, individual ingredients may be labeled “organic.” 

B. ‘All-Natural’ in Foods 

The term “natural” does not have a legal definition in European Union law or formal criteria in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, the US government claims that food marked “natural” should not contain any artificial or synthetic ingredients. The policy does not cover food production or processing or how a product is manufactured, nor does it outline how nutritious a food might be. 

The USDA, which regulates poultry, meat, and egg products and is distinct from the FDA, defines a “natural” meat and poultry product as being minimally processed and containing no artificial ingredients or coloring agents. But it warns that just because a label says a product is natural, doesn’t mean it’s healthier, and consumers should study the nutritional facts label. 

C. Terms Related to Carbon Emissions 

Several green labels indicate eco-friendly carbon emission practices, including net zero, carbon-neutral, energy efficient, etc. 

The United Nations defines “net zero” emissions as cutting carbon emissions to the point where residual amounts can be absorbed and stored through natural processes and other carbon dioxide removal measures. This ensures no net increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in alignment with goals of the Paris Agreement, negotiated at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in 2015 and signed in 2016. 

The term “carbon neutral,” as defined by the decarbonization platform provider Plan A, means that any CO2 released from an organization’s activities is offset by an equivalent amount being removed.

“Energy efficient,” according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, simply means using less energy than usual to carry out a task; in other words, it cuts energy waste.  

"Carbon credits" are used by companies to receive allowances for the amount of CO2 emissions removed or prevented. Under an emissions trading system, one company can sell these allowances to another company to offset the buyer’s emissions, so the buyer can claim to be carbon neutral. Companies also can improve energy efficiency by switching to renewable energy, as well as implementing “zero (net) deforestation” projects to reduce carbon emissions by protecting trees. 

D. Terms Related to Material Composition and Disposal 

According to the European Environment Agency, “biodegradable” is defined as something that is “capable of decomposing rapidly by microorganisms under natural conditions (aerobic and/or anaerobic).” “Most organic materials, such as food scraps and paper are biodegradable,” the agency said. 

However, biodegradation can be based on industrial standards, such as in compost, soil, or sea water with set moisture, humidity, or pH conditions. Temperatures can also range from 20°C (68°F) to 58°C (136.4°F), far beyond the range that one would expect at home.  

When looking for products that could biodegrade in one’s yard, those with the OK compost Home certification are a better bet, having undergone testing in a more applicable temperature range of 20°C (68°F) to 30°C (86°F) and a maximum biodegradation period of six months with at least 90% relative biodegradation.  

“Bioplastics” are biodegradable material from renewable sources, which can reduce plastic waste by using natural polymers from agriculture or employing cellulose or potato or corn starch. [See The Earth & I, April 2024] They are used in agriculture, the textile industry, in medicine and for packaging, and are known as polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHAs. Research and development are also underway for algal-based bioplastics, which have identical properties as conventional plastics but are naturally biodegradable.

But only bioplastics from renewable biological sources are biodegradable (see ‘Planet vs. Plastics’—Prospects of Bioplastics, One Step at a Time for the Environment, The Earth & I). The term is sometimes misapplied to plastics made from fossil fuels, which are not biodegradable. 

“Bio-based” material is, according to the European Commission, “wholly or partly derived from materials of biological origin (such as plants, animals, enzymes, and microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and yeast).” It is used in items such as detergents, paper, textiles, pulp, pesticides, and inks.  

Fermentation and bio-catalysis are used to create bio-based products. They are more efficient than conventional methods, saving energy and water and cutting toxic waste. They also help cut CO2 levels because they are based on renewables, such as plants. 

But something that is biodegradable is not the same as being compostable, which means the item should disintegrate within 90 days without harming the environment. A product labeled as biodegradable could take centuries to break down and could leave behind a variety of toxins. That means that products labeled biodegradable should usually be disposed of in the trash. 

Steps Being Taken to Protect Consumers Around the World  

Some companies are using green labels to make claims about their products that are misleading or untrue. For example, they might state that a product is compostable, when in fact it is not, or that something is energy efficient or net-zero without providing evidence. Fortunately, authorities are taking steps to make sure labels are accurate and trustworthy. 

A. USDA Regulation in the USA 

A USDA spokesperson** said: “Organic is a vital part of the US food system. The organic food sector has been growing and expanding over several years because consumers value organic products. Any time an industry grows, and there are new financial opportunities, there are also opportunities for bad actors to mislead consumers by not following the rules. That could include trying to sell ingredients or animal feed as organic when it really isn’t.” 

That’s why the department has introduced the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule. The spokesperson added: “This rule makes it harder to cheat the system because most businesses in the organic supply chain must be certified organic. […] This action allows us to oversee the supply chain more completely and act more quickly to keep fraud out of the market.” 

Organic agriculture is regulated through the National Organic Program (NOP). The NOP has established organic equivalency arrangements with Canada, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the European Union, and there are recognition agreements with Israel and New Zealand.  

B. ‘Eco-Labeling’ in Latin America and the Caribbean 

An initiative covering Latin America and the Caribbean has been launched to establish the first eco-labeling program in the region. Products must meet specific criteria before they can be awarded the eco-label, so consumers can have confidence in how the product was manufactured.  

C. ‘Ecolabel’ in the European Union 

The European Commission also has a voluntary EU Ecolabel that is awarded to sustainably designed goods and services. It covers everything from cleaning material, electronics, clothing, and paper products to furniture, personal care, gardening products, and tourism and hotel services. Other proposals, such as the Green Claims Directive, also aim to protect consumers. 

How to Find Consumer Information on ‘Green’ Label Products  

There are steps that consumers can take to make sure labels are genuine. They include confirming an operation’s organic status by searching for it in the USDA organic INTEGRITY database and visiting the USDA’s customer-focused web page, which explains more about the organic label.  

Look out also for the voluntary EU Ecolabel, which certifies the credentials of a European Union product. Staying informed is crucial – you can access information on sites such as those of the United Nations Environment Programme and the One Planet Network. 

*Yasmin Prabhudas is a freelance journalist working mainly for non-profit organizations, labor unions, the education sector, and government agencies. 

**Quotes supplied via USDA press office 

According to NASA, the Moon likely formed upon a collision between a Mars-sized body with Earth billions of years ago. Despite the Moon’s not having an atmosphere like Earth (but a thin layer of gases forming an exosphere instead), NASA scientists believe there could be potential for human colonization because its poles contain water ice. However, there is no liquid water on the Moon. Below are some facts from NASA regarding the Moon, which greatly impacts life on Earth. 

1. The Moon is about 27% the size of Earth with a radius of about 1,080 miles.  

2. With no atmosphere to prevent extreme temperature changes, the Moon’s equator ranges from -208°F (-133°C) to 250°F (121°C). Its coldest spots—under -410°F (-246°C)—are located in deep craters near the Moon’s poles. 

3. Despite not having traditional weather like on Earth, the Moon can be subjected to solar winds, galactic cosmic rays (releasing radiation), coronal mass ejections (shock waves from the Sun), and showers of small meteoroids. 

4. On average, the Moon is 238,855 miles away from Earth, but for various reasons it is moving about 4 cm (~1.5 in) farther away from Earth every year. 

5. Tidal locking makes it so the same side of the Moon faces the Earth at all times, resulting in the far side being perpetually hidden from Earth’s view. 

6. In 50 billion years (if the Sun still exists), the Moon would be so far away from the Earth that the Earth would also tidally lock to the moon. This would result in one side of the Earth facing the moon at all times. 

7. Astronauts from the Apollo missions of 1969–1972 brought back 382 kilograms (842 pounds) of rock and soil from the Moon for study. 

Sources: 

• https://science.nasa.gov/moon/facts/  

• https://science.nasa.gov/moon/weather-on-the-moon/ 

• https://science.nasa.gov/moon/tidal-locking/  

Air quality in the United States has vastly improved in the last five decades, but smoke from annual wildfires continues to cloud that record, says a professor who studies chemicals and other air pollutants. 

“For most of the United States, for all of the pollutants that we’ve been regulating under the Clean Air Act since 1970, concentrations are going down, down, down in most parts of the United States,” says Dr. Tracey Holloway, professor of energy analysis and policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in an interview with SciLine. “But the trends in wildfire smoke are setting us back, and many places are having levels of air pollution in the air that weren’t seen since 1970 or earlier, or even never. And so … the trends in wildfire and their impact on air quality really are a big deal.” 

In the recent SciLine interview, Dr. Holloway shared some basics on keeping ahead of unhealthy or hazardous air quality threats by monitoring, staying indoors, and taking advantage of a home air purifier.  

She recommends using a phone app for monitoring the current air quality index (AQI), or going to airnow.gov, which is produced by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

Air quality levels are ranked by color and range from green (good) to purple and maroon (hazardous). In between are yellow, orange, and red. Yellow means moderate or “not quite as good as it could be, but it’s not triggering any health-based standards,” Dr. Holloway explains. Orange means it registers above the limits that the EPA has set for “sensitive groups,” while red “is unhealthy for everyone.”  

Dr. Holloway said the “the science behind the health impacts [of air pollution] is really well established.” (See The Earth & I, August 2021). “Your life expectancy gets shorter, heart disease goes up, respiratory disease goes up, birth outcomes can be worse.”  

“Lung disease,” Dr. Holloway adds, “would be the most prominent negative outcome associated with many air pollutants, but especially wildfire smoke.” 

“Once [the AQI] gets into the red,” she cautions, “everyone can take steps to protect themselves.” The first step is to stay indoors, especially where there is an air filtration system. It does not have to be an expensive air filtration system, she adds. “It actually can be something you make yourself.” 

Dr. Holloway recommends an inexpensive, easy-to-construct home air purifier called a Corsi Rosenthal box. Just about anyone can make one; the materials are inexpensive, and they work better than those purchased from a store, says its inventor, Dr. Richard Corsi, dean of UC Davis's College of Engineering (see DIY video here with written instructions and illustrations in the chart below). 

For those who must be outside when there is a nearby hazardous air quality event, Dr. Holloway recommends using “the same kind of masks that we all have following the pandemic” because they are good for filtering the particulate matter found in wildfire smoke and other air pollutants. 

Sources: 

• https://www.sciline.org/environment-energy/wildfire-smoke-outdoor-air-quality/ 

• https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box 

• https://youtu.be/hIuH-2naozI 

• https://www.epa.gov/wildfire-smoke-course/why-wildfire-smoke-health-concern 

Famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once stated, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” 

One place where the myriad diversity of ocean life can be fully experienced is in a marine sanctuary. A national marine sanctuary is a designated zone where the marine environment enjoys special protection. Marine sanctuaries are safe havens for complex ecosystems that can provide a variety of species with breeding or feeding grounds as well as protection for coral reefs and kelp forests. Some marine sanctuaries harbor archeological sites or historic shipwrecks.   

In the US, there are many marine sanctuaries on both the east and west coasts, the Great Lakes area, and the Gulf of Mexico. Also, there is the proposed Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary, an area encompassing 582,250 square miles near the Hawaiian Island chain that is undergoing the process to be officially designated as a protected marine site.  

Marine Sanctuaries Around the World 

There are many marine sanctuaries around the world, including the Galapagos, Palau, and Thailand, to name just a few. Others include the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, a 600,000-square-mile zone in Antarctica’s Ross Sea; Apo Island in the Philippines; and a 2,677-square-kilometer (about 1,033 square miles) protected area around the Selvagens Islands near Portugal in the North Atlantic.  

Activities at Marine Sanctuaries 

Unlike other marine sanctuaries, Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea is a protected site due to its habitat, species unique to the Hawaiian Island chain, and endangered animals such as monk seals and the Laysan duck. The sanctuary is restricted to specific purposes and requires protected site special permits. Thus, visits to the Papahānaumokuākea tend to involve scientific research, habitat restoration, or conducting cultural practices, although “virtual visits” are available.

But many other national marine sanctuaries throughout the United States encourage visitors. In Northern California, a popular destination for thousands of visitors every year is the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. According to the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network, the Monterey Bay Sanctuary is “one of the most productive marine areas in the world.” There are 36 species of marine mammals, over 180 species of seabirds and shorebirds, at least 525 species of fishes, four species of turtles, 31 phyla of invertebrates, and more than 450 species of algae. 

Visitors to the waters of this extraordinary marine sanctuary can enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and tide pooling, among other activities. Fishing is also a popular pastime in the area, and Monterey has great wildlife viewing, including visitations by whales.

Blue Carbon in Marine Sanctuaries

Marine sanctuaries support a variety of ecosystems, all vitally important to the health of seas and their inhabitants. The planet, and consequently human existence itself, is dependent on the health of its waters. Marine ecosystems, like tidal salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass areas, can store blue carbon, sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide and mitigating concerns over climate change.

Challenges at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is home to a diverse community of underwater habitats. Additionally, the Keys has the only coral barrier reef in the continental United States and is home to the largest documented contiguous seagrass community in the Northern Hemisphere.

More than 6,000 animal species inhabit the Keys, and there are nine submerged shipwrecks on its Shipwreck Trail. The Keys are a prime location for diving, fishing, boating, and wildlife viewing. In addition to the coral barrier reef, the Keys also have extensive mangrove-fringed islands where the roseate spoonbill and other species of rare birds seek refuge to nest.

The Keys are also home to approximately 77,000 permanent residents and millions of visitors every year, so protecting the environment is a full-time job.

According to Alexandra Fine, a research specialist of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Science Team, the staff faces many challenges—such as the special two-day sport lobster fishing event.

“Our total Marine Sanctuary jurisdiction covers about 253 miles; it is an extensive area for which our team is responsible,” says Fine. “One big challenge we have to face every year is … the lobster sport season, July 24 to July 25. Noncommercial fishermen can catch up to six lobsters a day. It’s a crazy time—and dangerous.”

The recreational lobster “mini-season” carries risk: In the last 10 years, lobster mini-season resulted in “an average of two dive fatalities per season,” Florida’s Voice reported this June, citing the Divers Alert Network. 

Another challenge in the Keys involves boat drivers who damage the coral reefs or research equipment.

“We have distributed many buoys for boats to tie up to discourage anchors being dropped on coral reefs,” says Fine. “We also have a number of scientific buoys used to collect data. They are bright yellow and quite large—30-inches [in diameter]. They have no mooring lines, and vessels are not allowed to tie up to them. They are hard to miss if you are paying attention. But boats occasionally hit them and can do some real damage; this also results in data no longer being collected, which impacts our research.”

Coral Reefs: Another Vital Ecosystem

Coral reefs are sometimes referred to as the “rainforests of the sea.” Located throughout the world, coral reef ecosystems are highly biodiverse and a high percentage of marine species—including fish, sea turtles and crustaceans—rely on them for survival. Coral loss is a serious problem—in the Keys, nearly 90% of the live corals have been lost in the last 40 years, and reef restoration efforts are underway.

Mission: Iconic Reefs in the Florida Keys  

“Since 2019, when Mission: Iconic Reefs was started, we have been directing many of our resources to restoring coral reefs in the Keys,” says Fine. “We collaborate with other organizations, including the Coral Restoration Foundation. … We have to determine where corals can be ‘planted.’ We check for diseased corals, and water temperatures need to be monitored. Coral cannot be relocated if it is already too hot.”

“When we find an area of corals that have successful spawning, we have to control where people anchor. A team is constantly checking moorings, so people can tie up boats without damaging coral reefs,” Fine explains. In fact, three temporary special use areas were set up until October as sites for relocating nursery corals.

Fine says that coral management includes public involvement as well. “As a research scientist, I look at carbonate chemistry; everything must be research-based. It is a balancing act; we need to consider the science, but also have to include ‘stockholders’—fishers, divers, tourists, the tourism commission. We hold public staff meetings with a committee. If we are creating a new regulation, people can voice their opinion.” 

How to Support Marine Sanctuaries

There are many ways to care for marine sanctuaries, either on site or from one’s living room. Fine suggests educating oneself about marine environments, participating in beach cleanups, and avoiding single-use plastics. When possible, eat sustainable seafood.

It is easy to be discouraged by gloomy forecasts in the media regarding the future well-being of Earth. But everyone can make a difference. Keeping a positive, forward-looking mindset and participating in workable solutions benefits the planet, and all its inhabitants.

*Kate Pugnoli is an Arizona-based freelance journalist and former educator who works with nonprofit organizations. Her area of interest is in addressing environmental issues impacting marine biodiversity and conservation.

For more ways to support marine sanctuaries, visit NOAA’s website:

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/may24/eight-ways-to-support-marine-sanctuaries.htm

The classic red rose—expressing passion, love, and desire—is among hundreds of species and thousands of hybrids of roses. Whether as gifts, additions to one’s garden, or a source of vitamin C (from rose hips), roses can be just what one needs to feel love, inspiration, and passion. 

1. President Ronald Reagan declared the rose as the National Floral Emblem of the United States of America on November 20, 1986. The rose represents the US as a whole, while each state, province, and territory has its own flower.  

2. Although roses are associated with love and romance, other feelings can be conveyed through their various colors. For example, white roses are associated with purity and new beginnings (such as for weddings), yellow roses convey a platonic friendship, and peach roses convey gratitude and sympathy (such as to someone in mourning).  

3. Many species of roses, particularly the rugosa rose, produce edible rose hips (seed-filled bulbs) that are high in antioxidants such as vitamin C, with tablet and powdered forms available. 

4. It is said that about 80% of all roses that people see today (such as those sold in florist shops) are of the “modern” variety, including one of the most popular varieties, the hybrid tea rose.  

5. Hybrid tea roses come in various colors, such as red, orange, pink, yellow, and white. Examples include Mister Lincoln (crimson), Royal Highness (light pink), and Pope John Paul II (white). 

6. When planting roses, stakes should be placed at least 18 inches to 2 feet deep in the soil to anchor the plants. Roses should also be soaked once a week instead of lightly watering more often. 

Sources: 

• 36 USC 303: National floral emblem (house.gov) 

• 11 Rose Color Meanings to Help You Pick the Perfect Bouquet · PrepScholar 

• Rose Hips: Benefits, Forms, Uses, and Side Effects (healthline.com) 

• Various Types of Roses: An Ultimate Guide (With Pictures) - FloraLiving 

• What Are Hybrid Tea Roses: Everything You Need to Know (rosehow.com) 

• How to grow roses / RHS 

*By Mal Cole

It’s a bright summer morning at The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts. Nadine Mazzola, a certified forest therapy guide, gathers participants for a three-hour, meditative experience known as “forest bathing.”

Mazzola asks each person to introduce themselves and say what brought them to the class. Most of the participants describe how being in nature relaxes them and makes them happy, and how the pressures of life, desk jobs, and urban settings are dragging them down. One person mentions having tried forest bathing before and enjoying its positive effects long afterward. In short, they’ve all come to these woods to find even more peace and solace.

Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku) Rooted in Japan 

The practice of forest bathing or shinrin-yoku (see Nature Walks Improve Mental Health Outcomes, in The Earth & I) has its roots in Japan and the nature-based religion of Shinto, but the term was not coined until 1982. In its most basic form, forest bathing is being with nature and experiencing it through the five senses.

Dr. Qing Li, a medical doctor and founding member of the Japanese Society for Forest Medicine, says in his book, Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness, that forest bathing is “not exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is simply being with nature, connecting with it through our sense of hearing, taste, smell and touch.”

According to an explanation of forest bathing at Forestry England in the United Kingdom, people are encouraged to silence their devices, move slowly through the forest, breathe deeply through the abdomen, and drink in the sights, smells, and sounds that are part of the forest.

In Massachusetts, Mazzola guides her forest bathing class through a series of “invitations” or optional prompts, such as to slow walk and to find a special “sit spot” to quietly reflect. These invitations are part of what M. Amos Clifford, founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs (ANFT), calls an “optimal flow” of forest bathing. The flow includes a series of steps to build a framework for the experience. Guides like Mazzola are trained in an intensive, six-month certification process to lead forest bathing retreats and workshops.

Classes and guides are helpful to add forest bathing to one’s wellness routine, but for some people—like Masako Yotsugi, a pianist and teacher from Tokyo, Japan—it’s been a practice from childhood.

“Some people travel to do [shinrin-yoku], but mostly it’s a part of daily life,” she said. She compares forest bathing to sunbathing, but instead of basking in the rays of the sun, one immerses oneself in the presence of trees and nature. Yotsugi explains that forest bathing requires the use of all the senses.

Yotsugi has studied meditation and trained as a yoga teacher, but she likes how forest bathing is deeply intuitive. “In yoga, you have to do the pose and focus on your breathing—you have to make an effort. But if you go into nature, you naturally focus on your breathing,” she says. “You don’t really need to do anything, you don’t need to do exercise, you don’t need to try.”

Positive Effects of Time Spent in Nature

The positive effects of time spent in nature seem obvious to many who enjoy the sound of birds singing or what is called komorebi in Japanese—gazing at the patterns of sunlight that “leak” through the leaves of a tree and leave dancing shadows on the forest floor. (See also People Have the Capacity to Love and Heal the Earth, in The Earth & I.)

Jan Marry, a writer and award-winning librarian, had never heard of “forest bathing” until the COVID-19 pandemic, but felt an instant affinity with the term. “I immediately knew what it meant, even though I was unfamiliar with those two words together.”

Marry relied on nature walks to cope with the stress of lockdown and other unknowns. “I’m lucky enough to live in a lovely forest. So, I was doing [forest bathing] a lot because my options were limited, and also it reduced my stress.”

Marry has a few designated areas near her home, where she has set up Adirondak chairs and cushions among the trees. Sometimes, she’ll bring a hot drink and a book to enhance the experience, but most of the time, she comes to the forest to use her senses to enjoy the sounds, the sensations, and the colors. At Forestry England, forest bathers are encouraged to look for blues and greens, as research has shown that those colors inspire feelings of relaxation.

Marry’s affinity for nature is rooted in her childhood in New Zealand, “I used to go into the ‘bush,’ the native forest, and the pine trees where I lived.” Now she spends time among the cypress trees, poplars, and black walnuts in her home in Southeast Virginia. When asked how her forest bathing practice impacts the rest of her life, Marry replied, “It washes away my grumpies.”

The positive effects of forest bathing on mental health and mood are genuine. In 2004, Dr. Li helped found the Forest Therapy Study group to compile scientific data to support what many have known since childhood: trees make people feel better. Dr. Li and his group found that forest bathing has a host of physiological benefits. The studies found that cortisol and adrenaline were lowered by forest bathing practice, and subjects also experienced a drop in blood pressure.

Li also used the POMS (Profile of Mood States) test to determine shinrin-yoku’s effect on mood and emotions. Dr. Li’s team found that walking anywhere can decrease anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion, but walking in a forest environment had the added benefit of increasing vigor and decreasing fatigue.

One of the most compelling benefits of time spent in nature is the effect of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—or phytoncides from plants and trees—on the human immune system. These VOCs have “natural antimicrobial and insecticidal qualities that protect the tree from germs and parasites,” according to Forest Bathing Center website.

Phytoncides from trees, called terpenes, are what give forest trees their familiar scents. For example, Alpha-pinene is what gives an evergreen forest its piney smell. Li found that terpenes increased the number and activity of white blood cells called NK (natural killer) cells by about 50%. These are the cells that help destroy viruses and cancer cells.

It was this immunological research that originally intrigued and inspired Mazzola to become an ANFT certified forest therapy guide. She went on to found the consultancy New England Nature and Forest Therapy, where she hosts guided events and does consulting to help incorporate nature into workplaces. She is also the multiple award-winning author of Forest Bathing with Your Dog. 

In 2015, Mazzola was recovering from chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. Forest bathing “talked about phytoncides, and that was really relevant to me and my health at the time,” she said. But forest bathing had more than physiological benefits. “It has roots in science, and it also has roots in our way of being human in relationship to being alive on this planet. And it’s a whole lot of fun.”

Forest Bathing in Groups

Forest bathing doesn’t have to be a solitary experience. Part of the fun of forest bathing in a group is that it offers opportunities for community building with fellow participants.

Tam Willey, an ANFT certified guide, trainer, mentor, educator, and founder of Toadstool Walks in Boston, sees forest bathing with others as a truly enriching part of the practice. “At the time, I was seeking a way to weave the different interests in my life and find more community around nature and meditation,” Willey said. Forest bathing is easy in that it doesn’t require special gear or even a distant forest—one can do it locally in an urban park. Moreover, although forest bathing guides issue invitations, nothing is mandatory. “We’re non-dogmatic, non-prescriptive, non-directive,” Willey said.

As a guide and guide trainer, Willey has seen forest bathing bring people together amid diverse political and religious beliefs, and nature therapy as providing “an antidote to stress, anxiety, and the state of the world, and the fears that many of us carry about climate change, and political unrest.” This desire to experience nature in one’s community also inspired Willey to co-found International Forest Therapy Day, which invites participants to share the practice of forest bathing globally.

Mazzola’s forest therapy workshop ended with a simple tea ceremony and an offering of thanks to the land. She had led the group with admirable aplomb—and without the use of her right arm, which was covered in a green cast and held in a sling. In the final round of sharing, many participants spoke with gratitude about their dedicated guide and the now-revealed deeper beauty of the forest.

*Mal Cole is a freelance science and nature writer based in Massachusetts. 

Links to Interviewees:

Masako Yotsugi

https://youtube.com/@madame-piano /

https://instagram.com/mmepiano

Jan Marry

https://janmarrywriter.com

Nadine Mazzola

https://www.nenft.com/

https://www.forestbathingwithyourdog.com/

Tam Willey

https://www.toadstoolwalks.com/

https://www.forestbathingday.com/

The Collaborative for Spirituality in Education (CSE), in partnership with the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University Teachers College, will convene a National Conference on Spirituality in Education at the school’s Manhattan campus on the theme of “Awakened Education: Engaging the Spiritual Core.”  

Scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 26, 2024, the in-person, free-admission gathering will feature expert keynotes and sessions on topics related to the application and impact of spiritualty in education, including a session on “Nature Education.” The conference is geared to educators, practitioners, academics, and others who are interested in “whole person education.”   

CSE, which receives support from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, describes its mission as “nurturing the innate spiritual capacity of educators (independent of any doctrine, ideology, or religion) through enriching activities, engaging discourse, scientific research, and contemplative practices, beginning with childhood and continuing across the lifespan.”  

The October conference follows CSE’s “Awakened Campus Global Conference,” which was held in March in Europe. Leading global scholars spoke on humanity’s “transcendent relationship with a higher power” and how this can be translated into a scientific, evidence-based solution to post-COVID-19 mental health malaise.  

Speakers at the European conference included Spirituality Mind Body Institute founder Lisa Miller*, who is also a professor of psychology and education at Teachers College. In 2015, she was the host of the inaugural CSE conference. 

The “Nature Education” session at the upcoming National Conference on Spirituality in Education is likely to address what Prof. Miller and her colleagues have described as a scarcity of programs that “educate students on how to cultivate a direct and personal relationship with nature.”   

Updates and information on the conference, including registration information, can be found at the CSE website.  

*Author of the bestseller, The Awakened Brain, Prof. Miller teaches innovative courses such as "The Animal/Human Bond" that highlight the importance of conscious interaction with nature, and the profound connection between animals and human beings. (See The Earth & I, June 22, 2023) 

*By Gordon Cairns

The Yoruba people of Nigeria have an old saying, “Water has no enemy,” which means living in harmony with nature leads to a long and wise life. This message has been spread in and beyond Africa through the music of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti and his 1975 song, “Water No Get Enemy.”

Unfortunately, in Nigeria the warning hasn’t been heeded. Different factions have used violence to gain access to this precious resource, adding to the number of “water wars” (or water-related conflicts) taking place across the globe.

Water Wars in Africa

In certain regions of Africa, people have always struggled to get their share of water, and this has only been made worse due to climate change. The World Bank has calculated that climate change has contributed to over three-quarters of the Sahel region becoming too dry for livestock herders to settle in one place.

Several years ago, when the water level of the world’s 11th largest lake—Lake Chad, situated in the Sahel region—drastically fell, the nomadic Fulani herdsmen, who used its waters and the surrounding grasslands for their livestock, had no choice but to migrate to the fertile plains of the Benue River.

Unsurprisingly, the resident farmers didn’t take too kindly to the arrival of herds of cattle that are reducing their water supply, contaminating it with their waste, and eating their crops. The locals tried to drive out the unwelcome newcomers, but the herdsmen had access to automatic rifles and powerful political support. This escalated the conflict and caused death and chaos in the troubled region. For instance, in just three months during 2022, 92 people were killed in 10 incidents. As of 2021, an estimated 357,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Benue State due to the fight over water.

While water wars in Nigeria, defined as a violent conflict over a “threat of depletion of water resource in a region or the actual struggle over water resources,” are triggered by a fight over lack of water, in Burkina Faso, water has become a deliberate “weapon of war.”

In Burkina Faso, which is also situated in the drought-stricken Sahel region, local war lords are deliberately terrorizing local populations by destroying water trucks, contaminating the supply, and sabotaging the generators needed to deliver water to the public. In 2022, it was estimated that 300,000 people had been adversely affected, while the city of Djibo has had to accommodate most of the country’s displaced people. The citizens have been forced to survive on only three liters (about 0.8 gallons) of water a day for all of their basic needs: drinking, cooking, and hygiene. This is less than half of the 7.5 liters (2 gallons) absolute minimum per day recommended by the World Health Organization to survive in an emergency situation.

Negative Environmental Impacts of Water Wars

It is not only the lives of civilians that are disrupted by water wars. These conflicts also have negative environmental impacts, ironically reducing the availability of the water they are fighting over. Water wars can deplete the number of aquifers (the layer of rock needed to extract water from the ground), as well as reduce groundwater itself in the long term. As in the Benue River, the water at the conflict site can become polluted. Furthermore, such conflicts can contribute to biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.

Water Wars in California

Today, the California water war continues—in courtrooms—between policymakers, environmental groups, municipalities, and agricultural groups. The Bay-Delta Plan (with a 6,000-page report) is an example. Initiated in 2018, the stated goal is to conserve and protect wildlife, including trout and salmon, in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River watershed by managing water flow into the Sacramento River and Lower San Joaquin River. In a May 2024 update, the goal is to have 55% (45% to 65% adaptive range) and 40% (30% to 50% for February to June) unimpaired tributary flow into the Sacramento River and Lower San Joaquin River, respectively, going into effect by early 2026. This would result in up to a 75% reduction in water supply for Solano County—which gravely threatens local agricultural operations and local neighborhood availability of water, opponents say.

A final decision on the latest Bay-Delta plan update is not expected until 2025, according to the North Bay Business Journal.

Potential Solutions to Water Wars

Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution for each water-related conflict, the World Resources Institute (WRI) in their 2020 report recommended solutions based on six case studies in Iraq, Iran, India, the African Sahel (spanning Senegal to Eritrea), Central American Dry Corridor (southern Mexico to Panama), and Yemen. Solutions are based on four broad categories: 1) natural resources, science, and engineering approaches; 2) political and legal tools; 3) economic and financial tools; and 4) policy and governance strategies.

Natural resources, science, and engineering approaches involve the expansion of existing infrastructure and development of new water sources. Political and legal tools include the establishment of transboundary water-sharing agreements, enactment of environmental laws, and improvement of human rights and humanitarian laws. Economic and financial tools include agricultural improvements, reducing food waste, and removing subsidies for water, food, and agriculture. Policy and governance strategies include improved governance and collaboration over water management.

WRI recommended the implementation of transboundary water-sharing agreements in Iran and Iraq, given how both countries share the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. Iran has also been facing severe droughts, thereby also warranting agricultural improvements to improve water use. Solutions for India, given its large population, were focused on improving water-use efficiency and water management. In the African Sahel, WRI indicated the need to reduce inequitable water and land rights. In the Central American Dry Corridor, facing climate-related migration, agricultural extension was recommended, while taking “aggressive measures” to curb gang violence. Finally, the WRI recommended implementing international laws of war and hardening water systems in Yemen, given the ongoing civil war. 

Development of Desalination with Renewable Energy

Due to technological advances, creating abundant freshwater from seawater is no longer an impossible dream. Desalination has been considered to be too energy inefficient and costly to be a viable solution to water scarcity. Now a number of innovative desalination systems are being developed to reduce the costs needed to operate them.

One such advancement has been developed by Oneka Technologies, a Canadian-based desalination company using wave energy to power their systems.

Each of the company's floating buoys contains a strainer that intakes seawater, and the seawater passes through filters. The pump, powered through the oscillation of the waves, then moves the water into reverse osmosis membranes. 25% of the resulting water is desalinated, while the remaining 75% is low salinity brine (about 30% saltier than seawater) that is discharged back into the ocean. The desalinated water flows into a pipeline that goes from the buoy to the ocean floor and water storage tank. (See video for details.) Each buoy is tethered to the bottom of the ocean to keep it in place, and it can provide enough water for as many as 3,000 people daily. 

Solar power has also been used to power desalination plants. Dutch company Desolenator has a solar thermal desalination solution that can produce 250,000 liters (about 66,000 gallons) of fresh drinking water daily. Each plant is powered by a PVT (photovoltaic-thermal) array on the top, which also heats up the cold seawater feed on the bottom. The seawater is then fed into MED (multiple-effect distillation) components in the middle, distilling it into clean water. Given this method, there are no filters, membranes, or harmful chemicals involved. 

Domestic Solutions to Water Scarcity

There are also wins that can be achieved on a much smaller scale but which can still increase the overall availability of water on Earth, reducing the need to fight over it. For example, a smart irrigation system adjusts watering schedules to deliver only what is needed by using technology to monitor weather and soil conditions and check evaporation. This can not only be used in agriculture, but also in our domestic gardens. Research conducted by the Irrigation Association and the International Center for Water Technology at California State University in Fresno suggests that up to 20 percent of water can be saved by farmers and householders using this technology in comparison with traditional irrigation methods.

Another water saving method is drip irrigation, a low pressure water system delivering hydration to the root of the plant rather than using a sprinkler system which soaks the leaves and surrounding area, potentially saving 30 to 50 percent of water usage. Forgoing a lush, green garden for a trendy arid alternative will make one’s own front yard stand out and make a positive impact on water usage. Arid gardens grow hardy plants from dry and desert regions that can survive on very little water, such as Old-man Saltbush and Eremophila.

It is not only in gardens but also in homes, where water can be conserved. Switching from a bath to a shower and reducing it to four minutes can make a big reduction in water usage, as can turning the faucet off when brushing one’s teeth. A running faucet pours away six liters of water per minute. If left on for only two and a half minutes, this loss accumulates to the same amount needed to provide the liquid needs of a person in an emergency situation. Small changes such as these that all people can make in areas where water is plentiful can have a big impact where it is not.

Bringing an abundance of water where there is scarcity or reducing our usage elsewhere in the world would surely help end this ancient source of conflict, improve the quality of life for humans whose lives are blighted by thirst, and reap all of the environmental benefits to be had by living in harmony with nature.

*Gordon Cairns is a freelance journalist and teacher of English and Forest Schools based in Scotland.

Monarch butterflies are among the most easily recognizable butterfly species in North America, with their deep orange wings with black borders and veins, along with white spots along the wings’ edges. Below are some facts on these widely known pollinators. 

1. According to World Wildlife’s Monarch Butterfly Survey Report for the 2023–2024 winter season, monarchs occupied only 2.2 acres during that season, which is 59% less than the 5.5 acres observed last year. 

2. Meanwhile, monarch populations in California have been declining at about 5% per year since 1997, when there were “low millions” in the 1980s, according to the Xerces Society.  

3. Despite declining populations, the monarch is currently listed as “least concern” in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of Threatened Species. 

4. Monarch larvae only eat milkweed leaves, but adult monarchs can drink nectar from several kinds of flowers, including milkweed. 

5. Male monarchs have two black spots near the center of their hind wings, which females lack. 

6. Monarchs migrate distances of more than 3,000 km (~1860 miles) to their overwintering sites during their suspended reproduction (diapause) state. 

Sources: 

• Monarch Life Cycle | Ask A Biologist (asu.edu) 

• Monarch Butterfly | National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org) 

• Danaus plexippus (Monarch) (iucnredlist.org) 

• Monarch_Butterfly_Survey_Report_Feb_7_2024_.pdf (worldwildlife.org) 

• The Current Status of Western Monarch Butterflies, By the Numbers | Xerces Society 

• Monarch (Danaus plexippus) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (fws.gov) 

Geothermal energy has long been viewed as an ideal source of free energy from the Earth. In the Stone Age, geothermal heating was used for bathing in hot springs, and in ancient Rome, it was used for space heating.

Now, it may be poised to revolutionize how the world heats their homes.

In 1904, Prince Piero Ginori Conti of Italy first tested a geothermal electric power generator and then built a small power plant in 1911.

Decades later, in 1960, Pacific Gas and Electric built the first geothermal power plant in the US at The Geysers in California. Today, 22 operational power stations sit on the world’s largest geothermal field with a capacity of 1,517 megawatts and an average production of about 835 megawatts of electricity.

Indeed, naturally occurring heat sources have been easily tapped for geothermal power generation around the world. Iceland gets about 25% of its electricity from its abundant thermal geysers and hot springs.

Types of Geothermal Technologies

For most people, the term “geothermal” simply means harvesting free heat energy from the Earth to heat a home or building.

According to Bryant Jones of Geothermal Rising, a US-based industry trade organization, there are broadly three kinds of geothermal technologies.

The first, he says, is the use of geothermal ground source heat pumps to upgrade low temperatures of around 4–12 °C (39–55°F) using the shallow heat of the Earth. This is often called “geoexchange.”

The second type of use is often referred to as direct use applications in which the heat of the Earth is used in industrial processes and even in district heating systems.

The third application is the use of higher-temperature resources from geysers, hot springs, or deeper thermal reservoirs to generate electricity.

Popular, In-Ground Geoexchange Systems

Geoexchange is the most common type of geothermal project in the world. It involves burying loops of pipes in the ground, horizontally or vertically to harvest low temperatures of between 4°C and 12°C (39°F–55°F). A heat pump is then used to upgrade this to around 50°C (122°F), and it is then used to heat the home or building.

Darren and Darcy Crichton’s accidental journey to their net-zero home in North Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, used a geoexchange system dug right in their front yard. The decision to use geoexchange came in 2021 during an intense heat wave: the in-ground heat pump system provides very energy-efficient air conditioning as well as heat. (See video: https://youtu.be/9CruVmn097w).

There are hundreds of thousands of geoexchange systems installed across North America to heat buildings and even groups of buildings through district heating systems.

Geoexchange is probably the best way to heat a home. Compared to electric heaters—which are considered 100% efficient (in that all the electrical energy is converted to heat)— heat pumps connected to geoexchange systems are up to 400% efficient for heating. (In other words, for every one unit of energy needed to run the heat pump, up to five units of free energy come out of the ground).

These systems are also up to 700% efficient for cooling.

With predictions of rising heat waves, thanks to a climate-changing world, super-energy efficient air conditioning is becoming more important. People who have geoexchange systems often talk about their very comfortable homes and low energy bills.

The hitch is that installing a geoexchange system is expensive for a single-family home, costing about $30,000 to $40,000. But the economics really look good when it’s used to heat groups of homes, multifamily buildings, or single-family homes through a district heating system.

Air Source Heat Pumps

Another simpler and inexpensive approach is to use an air source heat pump mounted on the outside of one’s home. It takes heat from the air, no matter what temperature the air is. These systems are much cheaper, but the efficiency goes down with the temperature of the air.

Air source heat pumps must be able to deal with air temperatures ranging from -30°C to +30°C (-22°F to 86°F or higher). This means they will work extra hard when it’s very cold or very hot. Their efficiency can be as high as 300% and as low as 100%, about the same as a space heater.

The big breakthrough in recent years is that air source heat pumps have improved dramatically and are now rated for temperatures as frigid as -35°C (-31°F).

Air source heat pumps are now used around the world. In 2022, more than 400,000 air source heat pumps were installed in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The reason is simple: Air source heat pumps are very affordable and a very energy-efficient way to both heat and cool one’s home.

Geoexchange District Heating Systems

While air source heat pumps seem to be dominating the single-family home market, geothermal finds its economic sweet spot in almost any buildings that house more than one family.

For example, the Salvation Army has built a 175-unit supportive housing complex in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It secured quotes to build net-zero ready using geothermal heating and cooling that were only slightly more costly than conventional code-built quotes. They built super energy-efficient R40 walls and installed a geothermal system for heating and cooling and expect to save $6 million on heating costs in the first 25 years of operation.

In another example in Edmonton, geothermal was used to heat a 15-unit social housing complex and a church, helping the facilities become the first net-zero complex of its kind.

Geothermal has been used in district heating systems in the US starting as early as 1892. A system in Boise, Idaho, heats more than 80 buildings for about the cost of natural gas heating. There are about 20 such systems in the US and others in Paris, Munich, and other places around the world.

Geothermal district heating makes emissions-free heating affordable and reliable, and it's one of the few proven ways of decarbonizing building heating. “We're starting to see companies being founded that are wanting to partner with municipalities to create those district heating systems,” says Bryant Jones of Geothermal Rising.

In Europe, about a dozen countries have already or are in the process of banning fossil fuel heating systems. Air source heat pumps sales have skyrocketed, and many are looking at geothermal district heating as well.

Geothermal Energy

In 1911, Italian Prince Conti built the first geothermal power plant at the massive Larderello steam field where temperatures of 202°C (396°F) were found close to the surface. The second geothermal plant followed decades later, in 1958 in New Zealand. Two years later, Pacific Gas and Electric built the first plant in the US at The Geysers in California.

The Geysers development expanded to a complex of 22 operational power plants capable of producing 1,517 megawatts, making it the largest in the world today.

As of December 2022, there is 14,877 megawatts of geothermal electricity capacity around the world, which is still a nearly invisible blip in charts showing global electricity production.

Most of the geothermal energy plants rely on naturally occurring geysers, hot springs, or liquid-dominated reservoirs that are relatively close to the surface in large, easy-to-find resources such as The Geysers in California.

Less commonly, deeper reservoirs are found from which brine liquid is harvested and recirculated.

In recent years, enhanced geothermal systems are using hydraulic fracturing where they inject water to expand fissures in the rock to enhance the flow and improve productivity.

Most of these methods require prospecting to find a viable resource, which is easier if there are geysers or hot springs (think of Iceland or California) and harder in other cases.

Cracking the Geothermal Nut

In recent years, companies began using closed-loop systems and the natural propensity of the Earth to warm about 30°C (86°F) for every kilometer (0.6 miles) one goes beneath the surface.

The idea is to drill down 4–7 km (2.5–4.3 miles) and then horizontally another 4 km (2.5 miles) and install a dozen or more loops of pipe at this depth. This is done using horizontal drilling and magnetic ranging, a technology used to connect pipes deep under the Earth developed by the oil industry.

If this sounds familiar, it should. This very closely mimics the geoexchange systems that use closed loops but at shallow depths in the Earth.

EAVOR, a company out of Calgary, Alberta, thinks they have perfected the process of using closed loops deep into the Earth. After building a pilot project in Alberta that has operated for five years with very reliable production, they are now building a full-scale plant in Geretsried, Germany.

EAVOR’s geothermal project will produce 64 megawatts of heat, enough to heat 120,000 homes in a district heating system. It will also produce 8 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 8,000 homes.

This idea has already attracted interest on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. “We have follow-on projects in Germany that are other heat projects. We have another project in the design phase in the Netherlands. And we have a portfolio here in North America that we're working through,” says Jeanine Vany, a geoscientists at EAVOR.

Geothermal Breakthrough?

The big advantage of this closed-loop technology is that no one has to search for an elusive thermal reservoir; they are simply using the Earth’s natural levels of heat that occur almost everywhere on the planet.

Jones believes geothermal is about to become a mainstream technology for providing a low-carbon source of baseload electricity and heat.

And indeed, with record installations of solar and wind power around the world, there is a lot of demand for baseload electricity that does not produce emissions—and geothermal just might be the missing link.

“Geothermal is a bipartisan technology. Republicans like it, Democrats like it, conservatives, and liberals like that geothermal is a clean renewable energy. It has the lowest environmental footprint of all energy technologies,” says Jones.

*David Dodge is an environmental journalist, photojournalist, and the host and producer of GreenEnergyFutures.ca, a series of micro-documentaries on clean energy, transportation, and buildings. He’s worked for newspapers and published magazines and produced more than 350 award-winning EcoFile radio programs on sustainability for CKUA Radio.

Additional Sources:

• Heat Pumps 101: Jean-Marie of NAIT Polytechnique explains how a heat pump works and where one can use them: https://youtu.be/IyV452N9GAQ

• Geothermal 101: Devon Winczura of Envirotech Geothermal explains how geoexchange systems work in northern climates and how to heat a home with 400% efficiency: https://youtu.be/5gmFk_TgLrw