Biochar is a carbon-rich substance created by burning biomass in low-oxygen conditions. It is a soil amendment that can rejuvenate the soil and promote soil and plant health. Biochar's porous structure also means it retains water and improves soil's ability to hold moisture, keeping beneficial soil microorganisms alive and promoting plant growth. Improving Soil Fertility Biochar improves soil fertility by attracting and holding moisture, nutrients, and agrochemicals, including difficult-to-hold nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. It also reduces soil density and soil hardening, increases soil aeration and cation-exchange capacity, and changes the soil structure and consistency. Biochar can stimulate soil fertility by increasing soil pH, increasing the ability to retain moisture, and increasing the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil. It also improves soil moisture retention, aggregate stability, nutrient retention, microbial growth, and enzymatic activities. Biochar is a sustainable approach for improving plant growth and soil quality, making it a good way to overcome nutrient deficiency. It can play an important role in developing a sustainable system of agriculture and is considered an effective method to reclaim contaminated soil and achieve high crop yields without harming the natural environment. Biochar made from manure retains a significant amount of nutrients from its source, making it an exception to the rule that biochar does not actually add nutrients. Overall, the use of biochar produced from different organic residues is an effective approach for the long-term improvement of soil fertility and crop productivity. Environmental Benefits Using biochar in agriculture has many environmental benefits. Biochar can sequester carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change. It can also improve soil texture, increase soil organic carbon, and reduce the use of fertilizers, which leads to a decrease in pollution through fertilizer run-off. Biochar can improve soil water-holding capacity, reducing drought by increasing the moisture content of the soil, thus reducing soil erosion and nutrient leaching. Biochar can also increase agricultural production, especially in soils with low fertility and soil degradation, where it can be especially beneficial. However, the availability of feedstock, economic merits, energy needs, and environmental risks of large-scale production and use of biochar remain to be investigated. Economic Benefits Using biochar in agriculture has the potential to provide economic benefits. Biochar can improve the agronomic and environmental sustainability of biomass production systems, improving the economic sustainability of bioenergy enterprises by offsetting feedstock purchases with revenue from biochar sales. Biochar can also improve soil texture, sorption for nutrients, and crop production and yield, reducing the use of fertilizers and decreasing pollution through fertilizer run-off. However, there is a wide range of costs for marginally improved yield from biochar additions, which is often economically impracticable. The economic value of biochar as an agricultural technology for the long-term improvement of arable farming remains to be investigated. The development of biochar as a commercial product must establish concrete benefits of the technology and create a market for it. Conclusion Biochar can rejuvenate the soil, promote plant growth, and combat climate change. It can improve soil fertility, enhance crop yields, and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers. Biochar can sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and combat climate change. However, there are still uncertainties surrounding the climate benefits of biochar that require further research. Additionally, the selection of biochar and its application should be carefully performed to yield the desired results. While biochar has many potential benefits, more research and investment are needed to fully realize its potential as a commercial product for sustainable agriculture.

Interview With Dr. Lisa Miller, Founder of Columbia University's Spirituality Mind Body Institute Dr. Lisa Miller spoke with The Earth & I about our sacred bond with nature: I am going to start with a story. Some years ago, I was on the river near our home, and it was March, so the snow had just melted, and the waters were high and strong, and I thought, “What a great day to go kayaking!” So, I hopped in my kayak. Suddenly, as I hit the midpoint of my travels, a goose, and another right behind her, started squawking and craning their necks [as if to say], “Go right! Go right!” The message was clear—and the message was strong and unanimous—so I pulled my kayak to the right. And, as I moved by the geese, I saw I had narrowly averted a big cement pylon in the middle of the river. The geese had really saved me. As I went another 300 yards downstream, new geese appeared and began to squawk and gesture, “Go left!” and I thought, “I’ll follow their instructions,” and I again averted another buried impediment under the river (the waters were high). The third time I approached an impediment, there were no geese. I did not know where I was, and I hit the impediment and flipped over in the March waters, barely holding onto my kayak. I looked up and, high on the cliff above, there was a human couple. So, I waved with one hand and called out, “Down here! Down here!” and, truly, they looked at me, got back in their luxury car, and drove away. So, the geese had saved me twice that day and the humans did not really show up, or perhaps did not fully connect with the moment. But I think what I experienced that day was a microcosm of the fact that all living beings of all different sorts are in relationship with one another and are very present and aware. Included in the range of those relationships is “care” and “love” and “protection” and “guidance” in the sense that we show up as emanations of the force of life—loving, holding, and guiding—and everybody is part of the symphony, except, at times, we humans. “What I experienced that day was a microcosm of the fact that all living beings of all different sorts are in relationship with one another and are very present and aware.” I can only imagine how terrifying and bizarre we must look to fellow living beings. It is as if we have gouged out our eyes and covered our ears. We are deaf to the present living moment, to the needs of fellow living beings, and to the help and love and connection with our fellow living beings. We must look strangely “cut off” from the rest of the world. But everyone else is showing up, and we humans are this close—every one of us—to reawakening our awareness of our capacity to be in relationships with other living beings. It really is a matter of being present and feeling that deep love of what I call God, or Source, and being 100% “on” and alive to see who is showing up right before us. If I were not listening to the geese, I would have capsized in a violent way, and yet, when I needed the humans—I don’t think they were bad folks; I think if I’d met them at a school board meeting, they would have been very gracious—they did not dial into the moment, to the needs of fellow human beings that day. So, this is a good opening, perhaps, to our discussion today of who we really are to one another and who we are to all emanations—like rays of the sun—our fellow living beings in nature. E&I: I recall reading a passage from an article where you were talking about humans being like whitecaps on an ocean. And the ocean was the totality of consciousness or the Source or whatever word one cares to use. Don’t you think that animals, everything that lives, is a whitecap on that same ocean? Dr. Lisa Miller: Absolutely! Every animal, every plant. I would say every body of water, and water itself, all bodies of water, the clouds, the sky, every bit of creation, the sun, the mountains, and the Earth. When I speak to my students at Columbia on this point, I say we are a “point” and part of a “wave.” We are each distinct and unique. We have different, zipped-up, bio bodysuits and GPS coordinates, and we are, indeed, part of the mind and body of life, one sacred consciousness field—whitecaps on one ocean. In this duality of being, both as a point and part of a wave, we can show up as a point—uniquely, as we are, as we have been called into position into this world—and hold the deep awareness, the unitive awareness of love and interbeing with all of life. We feel each other’s needs—their “calls”—and turn to Source for guidance, and do our job as a distinct point into which we have incarnated. And that is a tremendous opportunity, as we “show up” for each other. “In this duality of being, both as a point and part of a wave, we can show up as a point … and hold the deep awareness, the unitive awareness of love and interbeing with all of life. We feel each other’s needs—their “calls”—and turn to Source for guidance, and do our job as a distinct point into which we have incarnated.” I sometimes use the term “trail angels” as an expression of the way in which we are guided through our unitive awareness to show up for one another in this state of interbeing in which we are both one “sea of love” consciousness as well as having unique, distinct incarnate roles to play. This is an opportunity to realize, I think, something sacred in every step. Nothing is wasted, nothing is accidental. Everything from the guy on the subway to the bird in front of me as I wait in traffic—every single piece is important. E&I: This is not a typical college curriculum…, so how do you see this manifesting in your students when they immerse themselves in this material for a full semester? What do they tell you? How does it change their lives, especially vis a vis animals and nature? Dr. Lisa Miller: Well, this is such an important point because this generation, Gen Z, has grown up with an implicit understanding of a unitive reality, whereas, forty years ago, we picked up a telephone that was connected by a wire; everything had a mechanistic route. Gen Z has spent their whole life pulling information out of the air, or being connected to people at radically different GPS coordinates simultaneously. So, the notion that we inhabit one unitive consciousness field, and yet are distinct points in a three-dimensional sense, is very much resonant and at home with them. Gen Z hungers for a language, for a system of meaning, for an academia, a science that you show up in and share that lived reality. And I think you have people now—activists, scholars, people of great wisdom—who are bringing forward— verbally, explicitly, through action and activism, and walking the walk—a unitive reality. So, Gen Z is very quick and hungry for this, and when the conversation in other settings might slide into the materialistic and mechanistic, I watch their eyes glaze over because it does not resonate with their reality. So, we are poised and ready to go. I think where Gen Z might continue to expand and flourish, and perhaps where we can be helpful is in the realization that every bit of this unitive field is sacred. We don’t need to feel fear… we’re not going to fall through an existential hole into oblivion. There is something in the deep fabric of reality, who I call God and others might say Source or Hashem, Jesus, the Universe, Allah, whatever one’s word might be. There’s an Ultimate Source or Force, loving, holding, and guiding, through which we are never alone. And because the very resource that nature absorbs is loving, holding, and guiding, not only will we not erupt or existentially face Hell, but our way forward will unfold if we allow ourselves to be an open system to be used with what is our birthright, the neuro docking station that is awakened awareness. I share in my book, The Awakened Brain, that everyone of us is born innately with this neuro docking station, an innate transcendent awareness. We are built for the sacred, transcendent relationship through which we receive guidance, as well as direction for our frightened, seemingly isolated moment in which we are actually loved and held. So, this is our birthright and how the universe is built. I think we then step into the urgency of understanding our environment more deeply, just as we are built—to be loving, holding, guiding to one another and other beings. Not only do we have a transcendent relationship, not only do we feel God’s presence through our neuro docking station, but it is the very same neuro docking station through which we perceive immanence, the presence of all sacred force in every being—in every tree, in every ray of sunlight, in every fish and bird. Not only do we have a transcendent relationship, not only do we feel God’s presence through our neuro docking station, but it is the very same neuro docking station through which we perceive immanence, the presence of all sacred force in every being—in every tree, in every ray of sunlight, in every fish and bird. So, where is God? Well, God is here and in this beautiful planet. God is everywhere. And this is something that inhabited human knowledge for so many thousands of years; we knew this. And then we got a little bit frozen out and lost sight of this. And no one was more lost than perhaps the sciences in the 20th century when we moved away from a deep intersubjectivity with all living beings, where nature was not just beautiful, but we were emanations of nature. Nature was our guide, our teacher, our parent, our child for whom to care. Nature is part of our family. The sciences got very lost in the 20th century and objectified nature. And nothing, I think, was a worse lesson for humanity than to dissect a frog in fifth grade to say “this life only has knowledge for you when it is dead and cut open on the table.” That is a real violation of the life of that living being, the little frog, and it is also a violation of the growing child who actually would learn far much more, I’m sure, if she or he were to watch the frog and befriend the frog and learn how the frog handles weather when it’s cold and how it learns to work with its own little babies and tadpoles. That would have been a lesson in relationship, and certainly a relationship in sustainability. So, we need to revisit how we teach science. We need to revisit how we teach who we are in our relationship to Earth in just about every academic discipline. That is because the “silent” curriculum is the one that is infused with radical materialism, a lack of intersubjectivity, and radical objectivity that, in the end, really leads people to feel lonely, and isolated, and willing to harm the Earth. We end up thinking that we are stampeding on an inert Earth, as opposed to being in a deep, connected relationship, learning from and watching Earth, while giving something back to protect Earth. *Lisa Miller, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Education at the Teachers College and Founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute of Columbia University. She is also the bestselling author of The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life.

Earth Day 2023: Securing Humanity's Stewardship of the Natural Environment By Alina Bradford* Earth Day has been observed for more than fifty years. Since its inception in the United States in 1970, Earth Day has inspired many millions of people to act and make positive changes in their communities, either on Earth Day April 22 or the day of the spring equinox. Today, as the world grapples with numerous environmental challenges, including the effects of climate change, Earth Day’s importance has only grown. By the mid-1960s, amid antiwar and civil rights social protest movements, many Americans became concerned about how industrial pollution affected the environment. Smokestacks belched foul-smelling and strangely colored gases into the air. Big cities, like New York City and Los Angeles, struggled with smog. On January 28, 1969, a blowout on a drilling platform off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, caused a massive oil spill—one of the biggest in the US. It led to the death of thousands of birds, fish, and other sea creatures, and befouled beaches and ecosystems over an area of 800 square miles. Then in June 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire because it was so contaminated with chemicals. These and other disasters prompted a groundswell of activism. A prominent environmentalist in Congress, US Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, led a broad cross-section of concerned citizens—environmentalists, scientists, politicians, and business leaders—to create Earth Day on April 22, 1970. It was a day to get educated and active in saving the environment. Twenty million Americans took part in rallies, teach-ins, and other events. Other historical events ensued: In early 1970, President Richard Nixon began taking actions to establish a new federal agency to oversee US natural resources and take on the mission of fighting pollution. Congress worked all year with the White House, holding hearings and crafting legislation, and by the end of the year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was born. The EPA’s first administrator, William Ruckelshaus, was sworn into office on December 4, 1970. Then came the Clean Air Act (initially legislated in 1963, with amendments in 1970, 1977, and 1990), the Clean Water Act (1972), and the Endangered Species Act (1973) to help protect the United States from pollution. But America wasn't the only country with environmental problems. That's why Earth Day went global in 1990, and now it's celebrated in more than 190 countries. Earth Day Activities There are plenty of free ways to honor Earth Day. Consider these ideas to get started. Nature appreciation. Being outside in nature can tangibly affect our lives. It's not just about feeling good—natural and built outdoor environments can have an uplifting impact on everything from thoughts and emotions to actions. Spending time in green spaces, like city parks, community gardens, and even just one’s backyard, can make a significant, positive difference in physical and mental health. Being in nature can help one make friends, stay active, get chores done, be more mindful, and even lower pollution levels. So, just getting outside is an excellent way to celebrate Earth Day. Taking it (literally) a step further, one can share experiences with others by creating or joining a nature or hiking club. Hiking and exploring nature requires a little preparation and a few items like proper clothing, good shoes, and a cell phone with nature apps like iNaturalist, the Audubon Bird Guide App, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID app, PlantSnap, or others to help identify birds, plants, trees, and flowers. Fellow hikers can be found on MeetUp or one’s local community page on Facebook. Environmental Service Activities Earth Day traditionally offers service projects to make a difference in one’s community: Plant a community garden. Grocery stores' produce has a massive carbon footprint due to how far the goods must be transported. Growing food in one’s neighborhood reduces carbon emissions and helps promote neighborhood unity. To get started, get neighbors together to locate a piece of public or privately owned land; work up a land use agreement with the owner (here’s a sample land owner agreement); and finally, do some planting. The Noble Research Institute has some great advice on starting a community garden. Organize a community litter pick-up campaign. Getting together with friends or neighbors to pick up litter can be an Earth Day—or even a weekly—activity. A community litter pick-up improves public spaces’ appearance and the community overall. A study from Penn State shows that cleaning up neighborhoods reduces crime and improves the quality of life. When vacant lots were cleared of trash, graded, seeded with new grass, planted with trees, and protected with low wooden fences, there was a 29% drop in gun violence, a 22% decrease in burglaries, and a 30% decrease in noise complaints and illegal dumping. Start composting. Composting is the process of turning waste into nutrient-rich food for plants. Even better, composting keeps food waste and garden debris out of landfills. Read more in The Earth & I article “Stopping the Food Waste—An Introduction to Composting.” Plant something. Even if one doesn’t have a green thumb, one can still make the world a little greener. Many people celebrate Earth Day by planting a tree, but an easier way to help the Earth and promote healthy biodiversity in one’s area is by spreading native wildflower seeds. Wildflower seeds don’t need to be intentionally “planted” to grow. If they are thrown into abandoned lots, abandoned planters around town, and ditches, lovely flowers will pop up on their own. The flowers will also attract pollinators and help grow the dwindling bee population. This native plant tool helps to find native wildflowers for one’s area. Reduce the use of plastics. The production of plastics creates 232 million tons of CO2 emissions annually that contribute to global warming. After plastic is produced, used, and discarded, it harms the environment by filling landfills, polluting land and waterways, and sometimes entangling wildlife. Reducing plastic use is a great way to observe Earth Day. Start by using reusable straws and shopping bags instead of plastic ones. Try to buy products that are in compostable containers (like cardboard) or containers that are recyclable. It can be as easy as choosing a soda in a can instead of a plastic bottle. A host of environmental service organizations support additional projects. For example, Project Drawdown offers a Table of Solutions | Project Drawdown, and EARTHDAY.ORG offers an Earth Day Action Toolkit. Choosing one or more of these actions goes a long way to improve the natural environment, not only on Earth Day but every day. *Alina Bradford is a safety and security expert that has contributed to CBS, MTV, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, and more. She is currently the editorial lead at SafeWise.com.

There’s no better way to celebrate Earth Day every day than to reduce dependency on single-use plastic products by using reusable shopping bags and washable drink containers. If anyone thinks disposable plastic products are no big deal, the folks at earthday.org offer some sobering statistics: Annual global plastic production virtually equals the weight of all humanity. Fifty percent of global annual plastic production goes into single-use products. Five trillion plastic bags are made worldwide each year. Americans discard about 100 billion plastic bags annually. The global population uses about 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute. Only around 9% of plastic water bottles are recycled; the other 91% end up in landfills or as plastic litter in bodies of water. The global population uses about 500 billion plastic cups every year. Americans discard about 25 billion Styrofoam cups a year. About 146 million metric tons of packaging plastic was used worldwide in 2017. Americans use about half a billion drinking straws each day on average. Source: https://www.earthday.org/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/

An unusual stream of “rivers in the sky” are the reason for the daunting rains and snows over California in recent months. The US National Centers for Environmental Predictions (NCEP) has reported that their global forecast systems tracked multiple atmospheric river (AR) events that flooded—or buried under snow—portions of California from October 2022 to early 2023. According to the NCEP’s parent organization, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “atmospheric rivers” act like long, narrow “rivers” in the sky. At some point, they will dump their water vapor back to Earth as rain or snow. Though ARs vary in shape and size, those that come with large amounts of water vapor and strong winds can stall over watersheds and cause extreme rainfall, snowfall, and floods. And—like the recent, record-breaking AR events in California—they can be extremely dangerous, disrupting travel and taking a disastrous toll on life and property. Unlike the extreme events seen in 2022-2023, most ARs are weak and bring beneficial rain or snow to crucial water supplies. According to NOAA, “ARs move with the weather and are present somewhere on the Earth at any given time.” NOAA has learned a great deal about atmospheric rivers from more than a decade of scientific studies using new satellite and radar technology. As much as half of annual precipitation in the Western US coastal states occurs—on average—in a few AR events. ARs are 400-600 km (248-372 miles) wide on average. They flow at the bottom of the atmosphere, about half a mile to a mile above the Earth. Strong ARs transport water vapor amounts roughly equivalent to 7.5–15 times the average water flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River. ARs are, in fact, the largest “rivers” on Earth. The US Geological Survey says that, “At any given time, 90% of the water vapor moving toward the poles is concentrated in about four to five atmospheric rivers across the globe.” A well-known type of strong AR that can hit the US West Coast is called the "Pineapple Express." Its name is derived from its apparent ability to transport moisture from tropical areas near Hawaii to the US West Coast. NOAA and partner organizations carry out targeted field campaigns that use “satellite measurements, offshore aircraft reconnaissance, and land-based AR observatories” to help develop forecasting models. NOAA’s US West Coast AR Landfall Tool, courtesy of Dr. Jason Cordeira of Plymouth State University, offers accessible graphic representations of AR events. Sources: https://psl.noaa.gov/arportal/ https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/rivers-sky-6-facts-you-should-know-about-atmospheric-rivers

By Julie Peterson* The joy of a delicious meal can be undermined by feeling tired, feeling down, or rushed when mealtime rolls around. But these times are also the best to prepare a fresh and healthy meal, as good food can improve feelings of well-being. As an essential daily activity, eating meals should ideally involve a consistent diet of all-natural, delicious, and nutritious foods. The total experience of mealtime can foster better mental, physical, and spiritual health, inspire love, gratitude, and peace, and raise consciousness through intention and connection. Elevating ‘Mood’ with High-Quality Foods While it is common knowledge that spending time in nature and in positive relationships can elevate “mood” and feelings of well-being, it is also true that eating a “high frequency” meal of healthy, natural, unprocessed food can help do the same. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of foods to choose from that can help elevate one’s “vibes”: Sprouts and microgreens. These tiny germinating plants contain many vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients and will grow on a windowsill. It’s easy to experiment with the textures and flavors in salads, stir fries, sandwiches, as a garnish, or blended into smoothies. For beginners, the simplest sprouts to grow are alfalfa, broccoli, radish, and mung beans, with snow peas, amaranth, wheatgrass, clover, sunflower, and onions great items to grow with more experience. Vegetables. Whether grown at home or sourced from local organic growers, vegetables are powerhouses for both nutrition and raising feelings of well-being. Vegetables—such as broccoli, beetroot, cucumber, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes—are superb when eaten raw as snacks, in salads, or juiced with other fruits and vegetables. Stir frying or steaming are the healthiest cooking methods; just avoid cooking them until they change color as this reduces their potency. Leafy greens. Spinach, endive, arugula, dandelion, and collard greens are all excellent additions to smoothies, juices, salads, and sandwiches. But kale tops the list as a nutritional powerhouse with powerful antioxidant properties. Fresh berries. Organic strawberries, blueberries, goji berries, and cranberries are delicious examples that can be used in smoothies, salads, or eaten straight up like nature’s candy. Tibetan goji berries and Amazonian acai may only be available in dehydrated or frozen form. Fresh fruits. Papaya, kiwi, peaches, apricots, bananas, pomegranates, dragon fruit, pineapple, mango, and citrus are all beneficial to the body and soul. Look for sun-ripened, organic, non-GMO, locally sourced fruits. They are best stored in a cool, dark area, not in a refrigerator. Fermented foods. Try kimchi, tempeh, sauerkraut, or kombucha. Herbs and spices. Ginger promotes healthy digestion; cumin helps cholesterol and blood sugar; turmeric is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiviral. Plant-based fats. In reasonable quantities, fats in raw hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, avocado, coconut, and olives are beneficial. Sweeteners. The least-processed forms of sweeteners include honey, maple syrup, and dates. Less-healthy Choices? Just as some foods may elevate feelings of well-being, others may have an opposite effect. Caffeinated tea or coffee. To maintain high energy levels naturally, try potassium-rich foods like bananas, avocados, and whole eggs instead. In addition, electrolytes can boost energy levels and are readily available in watermelon, pomegranates, and oranges. Preserves and jams. These cooked products are not as potent as the original products. Try mashing actual fruit instead of opening a jar. Animal products. The best choices are likely to be grass-fed beef or bison, wild salmon, or free-range poultry. Eggs should come from pastured poultry. Just as some foods may elevate feelings of well-being, others may have an opposite effect. Highly processed food products. The list of products generally deemed less healthy include those that have a long shelf life, come in a packet, or are ready-to-eat. Some have additives (artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives). Others contain hydrogenated or trans fats, margarine, or lard. ‘Vibes’ From Beyond the Food Itself While the quality of the food plays a huge role in feelings of well-being, there are other factors to consider at mealtimes. Eating is as much about nourishing the soul as it is about feeding the body, so all the following aspects of a meal contribute to “vibes”: “One of the best things you can do to raise your vibe is to develop a healthy relationship with food,” says Cate Ritter, wellness coach and functional nutritionist in Oregon, USA. “Think beneficial thoughts.” Bless food by being grateful; many meal prayers include giving thanks for the bounty. Life coach Tony Robbins said, “You can’t feel fear or anger while feeling gratitude at the same time.” If there are any negative emotions at the table, turn them around by finding gratitude in the food, the table, the people, the plate, or anything immediate. Imagine each bite of a food as nourishing for the body; eat mindfully, being aware of the colors, textures, aromas, and flavors. When one feels present in the moment, the nervous system calms and there is a feeling of greater peace. Have a dedicated space, preferably a table, for meals. “Eating around the table challenges your busy schedule. It takes a stand against feelings of stress and anxiety, and instead, puts your basic needs first and foremost. It’s a time to take a break from your daily responsibilities and focus on taking care of your body, your mind, and your relationships,” according to Chopra.com. It’s impossible to eat mindfully while using technology and multitasking. Phones, computers, TVs, and even books and newspapers can be left out of the dining room. Make the dining room a beautiful place with colors that are calming or rejuvenating, bring in natural lighting or use bright lighting. Use the “good” dishes often, and set the table with intention, even if dining alone. Practitioners of Feng Shui recommend keeping the dining room clean and tidy. They also recommend light from candles as it emits positive energy. A mirror in the dining room can also amplify natural light and give the illusion of more space. Finally, live plants naturally bring high vibes to the room. Fresh, organic, raw fruits and vegetables are great additions to any diet, and the more often they are included in meals, the more desirable they will become, thanks to the natural high and energy that they provide. Spinach Avocado Salad with Berries Recipe by Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings A simple but stunning salad you can whip up in no time! Have it as a side or as a healthy meal, either way it's one you'll come back to again and again. Ingredients For the dressing: 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/8 teaspoon dried garlic powder Salt and pepper For the salad: 2 tablespoons chopped almonds 10 oz bag of baby spinach 1/2 pound strawberries washed, hulled, and sliced 1 cup raspberries washed and gently dried 1 cup blueberries washed and gently dried 1 large sliced avocado Instructions To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together and set aside. To make the salad, gently toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl with the prepared dressing. Serve immediately. Notes Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a meal. Nutrition Calories: 246kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 604mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 6665IU | Vitamin C: 64.7mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 2.9mg *Julie Peterson is a freelance journalist based in the Midwest region of the US who has written hundreds of articles on natural approaches to health, environmental issues, and sustainable living.

United Nations member states have agreed on a treaty text for management of the two-thirds of Earth’s oceans that lie outside national jurisdictions. These vast areas, known as the “high seas,” refer to the waters outside the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) that now extend 200 nautical miles (370km) from a nation’s coasts, Reuters said in a March 30, 2023 article. Nations currently can limit human activity in EEZ waters and sea beds. The new international treaty—known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty (BBNJ)—is twenty years in the making. It aims “to protect biodiversity by establishing large-scale marine protected areas and regulating marine research for scientific and commercial development,” says Reuters. Some of the treaty’s goals are to combat ocean pollution and overfishing, as well as regulate the building of infrastructures in the oceans for agriculture, mining, and power plants. While there is limited study of the Earth’s oceans, research warns that marine species are at special risk for extinction due to man-made activities. The Marine Conservation Institute, a member of the High Seas Alliance, says less than 3% of the oceans are presently “fully or highly protected.” It is hoped that the treaty will help the UN achieve its “30x30” goal to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and water by 2030. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the treaty a “breakthrough” for “global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health,” and credited Rena Lee, Singapore’s Ambassador for Oceans and Law of the Sea Issues and Special Envoy of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, for her leadership and dedication in taking the lead negotiating position for the “historic” agreement. Sources: https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GLOBAL-ENVIRONMENT/OCEANS/jnvwyjomdvw/ https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134157

Unexplainable Phenomena Suggest ‘Intelligent Design’ Linking Humans and Nature By Dr. Beverly Rubik* In the quest to understand the origins of the universe, the concept of “super synchronicities”—or multiple experiences of unexplainable coincidences in people’s lives—is gaining interest. Studies are finding that these experiences often bring people into higher states of consciousness that allow them to see the benefits of relationships with each other and with Nature. In 2022, Dr. Gary Schwartz, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery at the University of Arizona, presented research on fascinating phenomena or “super synchronicities” as among the best evidence of an underlying intelligent design. He defined super synchronicities as patterns of six or more serial coincidences in life that cannot be simply explained. Synchronicity can have a profound effect on one’s sense of connection to Source and nature. It is a notable aspect of Jungian psychology, of a causal connection beyond space and time. Carl Jung wrote in 1973 that synchronicity reveals facets of the unus mundi, the underlying unity of the world. Jung’s viewpoint recovered the meaningful connections between the subjective [non-material] and objective [material] realms. Super synchronicities can be extraordinary experiences. They can evoke meaning, sense of purpose, heightened emotions, and even personal transformation. Those who experience super synchronicities may feel wonder, delight, amazement, greater spiritual connection, and humility before a Divine order and creativity. They may also feel love, joy, and gratitude. Thus, synchronicities can trigger expanded psychospiritual states of consciousness. Such expanded states, including a profound experience of a personal interconnection with the cosmos, could help bootstrap humanity to recover a lost relationship with nature and the environment. Persons in this state frequently experience even more synchronicities, too, which further reinforce their heightened state. In contrast, other people may feel cut off from the greater whole. To them, a synchronicity appears to be a rare and random incident rather than a meaningful aspect of temporal order and creative unfolding of the universe. Such people may be seen as being in a contracted state. When one feels separate from nature, then nature may be seen mainly as resources to be consumed. Pollution of the environment can become rampant. A sense of separation from nature along with a lack of awareness that nature nurtures life, may be at the root of environmental degradation. Frontier science has revealed some new discoveries about emotions that could lead to some helpful technology. Therefore, I would like to briefly mention our work at The Institute for Frontier Science. A subject in one of our experiments, an energy healer, intentionally moved from a neutral state to sending “healing love,” and we then measured almost four times more biophotons near the heart. One of our main projects is research on the human biofield or energy field (Rubik, 2002; 2015; Rubik et al., 2015). We can measure extremely low-level light emissions from the body, also known as biophotons. A subject in one of our experiments, an energy healer, intentionally moved from a neutral state to sending “healing love,” and we then measured almost four times more biophotons near the heart (Rubik and Jabs 2017). In experiments with several human subjects, we found that biophoton emission from the body can change according to intent, emotion, and state of consciousness. The biofield may be seen as a bridge between consciousness and the physical body. Besides biophotons, we are investigating other parts of the biofield. This involves developing novel detectors. We found a coupling between the dynamic emotions experienced over time by a subject and certain physical detectors that were shielded from conventional energies. In other words, the parameters of certain physical systems changed in a predictable way with the human subject’s emotions. Positive and negative emotions, respectively, led to changes in opposite directions of the parameters. It is possible that there is a “subtle energy” associated with emotions. We have a prototype of this detector as part of our “sensor suite,” which also includes conventional environmental and physiological detectors (Jabs and Rubik 2019). Our so-called “subtle energy” detector shows the greatest response on a computer data acquisition system when a human subject experiences positive emotions such as love and joy. [Synchronicities] can uplift people to heightened states of consciousness that can change their relationship with nature and one another. Although this technology needs further development, we foresee applications, including biofeedback, to help people engage more in positive emotions, which are also important for optimal health and well-being. Such technology might help boost the time spent in heightened psychospiritual states and increase emotional intelligence. In today’s world, many people interact more with communication technology and less with real persons or nature. Cultivating love, joy and gratitude counteracts the increasingly robotic shaping of humanity by lifeless computer programs in educational systems and work life. Positive emotions have also been shown to energize water. Consider that water comprises approximately 70% of the human body, and 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. The frontier science of water demonstrates that water plays an active role. Indeed, it is the matrix of life itself. Using the Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) Camera Pro, a digital Kirlian camera, we measured greater intensity and larger patterns of light emitted from water droplets when human subjects expressed love and sent positive energy to the water samples (Rubik 2011) If people would focus their love on water in the environment, hypothetically, it could have a beneficial impact. With loving kindness and greater awareness that human beings are an intimate part of the cosmos, humanity can choose to live differently—in a nurturing relationship with nature and the environment. Synchronicities bring about a sense of wonder and an expanded vision of reality. They can infuse human life with meaning and love, providing a sense of oneness with Divine Source and with the universe. They can uplift people to heightened states of consciousness that can change their relationship with nature and one another. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1959) wrote, “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” *Beverly Rubik, Ph.D., is President and Founder, Institute for Frontier Science, Oakland, California, and Adjunct Faculty Member, Integral Health, California Institute for Human Science, Encinitas, California. Editorial Note: Author Title: Second Commentary on “A Vision for Earth’s Future Arising from Frontier Science,” Presentation by Dr. Gary E. Schwartz at the Third International Conference on Science and God (ICSG III), April 2022. References: Jung, C.G. 1973. Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Schwartz, G.E. 2022. “A Vision for Earth’s Future Arising from Frontier Science.” Invited presentation, Third International Conference on Science and God (ICSG III), “Environmental Restoration in the Era of Frontier Science.” April 2022. Teilhard de Chardin, P. 1959. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper & Row.

Researchers at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University (US), in a study published on March 15 in Emerging Infectious Disease, associated a deadly 2022 outbreak of H5N1 with the deaths of New England harbor and gray seals in June and July 2022 along the US’s New England coast. The outbreak was connected to “a wave of avian influenza in birds in the region,” according to a March 15, 2023 report in Science Daily. Here is some of the report’s data on the disturbing toll of H5N1, a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenzaH (HPAI), known commonly as bird flu. The deadly H5N1 has led to the destruction of 60 million US farmed birds since October 2020. The Tufts study is among those to first connect HPAI directly to a deadly event in wild animal populations. H5N1 recently killed many sea birds in Peru—notably 60,000 pelicans, penguins, and gulls. Peru has also reported the deaths of 3,500 sea lions from the virus. The Tufts research team identified at least three strains of bird flu that crossed the Atlantic to the US from Europe. The deadly seal event in New England—330 animals perished—coincided with the deaths of gulls in the region. H5N1 is almost 100% fatal for domestic and wild birds (except waterfowl). The same lethality held true for all the New England seals that tested positive, though it is unknown if some survivors in the seal population were asymptomatic. Fewer than 10 human cases* of H5N1 have been reported globally since December 2021—all were associated with direct human exposure to infected poultry. A total of 868 cases of human infection with H5N1 have been reported worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Some 457 of these infections were fatal—about a 50% mortality rate. *According to the Science Daily report, no documentation exists for human transmission of H5N1. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230315132401.htm

Rebalancing Humanity’s Relationship with Self and the Natural World By Gregory Henschel* The practice of yoga—as in, “I am going to yoga”—refers to classes where people collectively do postures to strengthen the body by resisting one’s own weight and stretching to keep the body limber. Clearly, many people have benefitted from group yoga classes taught in many fitness centers. But what is a yogic “lifestyle”? The expression suggests something more than visiting the gym. In its lifestyle manifestation, yoga means a broad range of mental and physical disciplines to increase a person’s vitality and bring the mind to a state of equipoise or balance. Aside from postures, a yogic lifestyle involves a deeper penetration of many of the following practices, which affect many aspects of life, from without and within. Breath Control It is said that “breath controls the mind, not the other way around.” To enhance concentration, to modify mood, and expand a feeling of calm, breathing exercises can be quite beneficial. While yogis evolved systems of breath control ages ago, much has been confirmed by science. A 2019 article in the Scientific American magazine explains, “slow, deep breathing increases the activity of the vagus nerve,” a part of parasympathetic nervous system that controls, and also measures, the activity of many internal organs. “When the vagus nerve is stimulated, calmness pervades the body. The heart rate slows and becomes regular, blood pressure decreases, [and] muscles relax,” the article says. Diet Dietary fads abound, but yogic diets are based on time-honored principles. In general, yoga emphasizes vegetarian food. Fresh vegetables and fruits are believed to have the most “life force” or prana. Further, meat is considered to weigh down the mind and make it harder to sit still for meditation. Beyond this basic guidance, there are many schools: lacto-vegetarian, vegan, lacto-ovo, etc. But what is right for an individual? Many factors should be considered, as no one diet will work for everyone. This is where the environment comes into play. A journal article in Nature Food states that greenhouse gas emissions, which are deemed responsible for global warming, are twice as intensive for animal-based foods than for plant-based foods. The article, and many like it, show that there is large variance between animal-based foods, with beef causing much greater greenhouse gas emissions than, say, poultry. This is also part of the yogic lifestyle— being conscious of the effects of one’s personal actions on others. And what about stimulants, recreational drugs, and alcohol? Those are basically out, although some serious practitioners do take moderate amounts of tea or coffee. Yoga Postures This is a popular topic, and there are many schools. Some hold classes in rooms that are quite hot. Others have friendly animals, such as goats, walking around while the class is in progress. While many people have received great benefit from yoga postures, as with any form of exercise, it is possible to get hurt. Amidst the diversity of yoga styles, it is important to find a qualified teacher. One way to help make sure that yoga teachers and schools have met learning standards and are committed to ethical standards is to check with Yoga Alliance. This nonprofit professional association representing the yoga community has over 7,000 Registered Yoga Schools (RYS) and more than 100,000 Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) as of April 2020. Anyone can search for individual teachers and schools on their website. Mindfulness and Meditation The diversity of meditation teachers and styles of practice is even more wide-ranging than yoga schools. Meditation can mean everything from just watching the river flow to intensive concentration techniques practiced in austere monastery-like environments. Most people have heard of Transcendental Meditation Technique, Vipassana, and other meditation schools. Some are accompanied by philosophical or religious teachings, while others are not. In the search for a good school, students should look at the teachers and community around them. Are they happy, healthy, and open to questions? Or, do they seem more interested in getting paid than doing service? Service There is more that lies beyond the common manifestation of yoga in contemporary culture. There is the meaning of yoga, which is “unity.” Yoga, akin to the English word “yoke,” means the uniting of the small “s” self and the inner capital “S” Self. This fullest expression of yoga centers one’s life not only on personal health and balance of the body-mind system, but also on the inner connection to one’s place in the cosmos, to a deep unification with all existence, the Oneness of all Being. Practitioners of this yoga seek to live with a subtle type of morality while focusing the mind’s eye on the inner spirit in all things. From this core, an outward yoga can emanate for rebalancing the economy, improving social justice, and rebalancing humanity’s shared relationship to the natural world. It is the consummation of the yogic lifestyle to bring balance to the body, the mind, to the inner spirit and from there, a sustainable harmony between oneself and others. This all-around “unity” is, in final form, sought through service. This is not the same as retail service, as in “billions of burgers served!” Instead, this is a striving for the good and happiness of all through thoughts, words, and actions. This kind of yoga—a continuous flow of Self-awareness and expression of kindness—integrates meditation with outward acts. When all this works together, the “lifestyle” becomes something even greater: a mission. It becomes one’s mission in life. *Gregory Henschel is also known as Acharya Govinda. Acharya means “one who teaches by example.” He has been a dedicated meditator and practitioner of yoga for 50 years and has been teaching classes since the mid-1970s. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife Francey and their parrot Scarlett.

By David Dodge* “I don’t have time to ‘stick it to the man.’ We don’t want to fight … We don’t want to cause … any trouble. We found something better than they have to offer at any price.” That’s what rebel architect Michael Reynolds said when asked if he was trying to “stick it to the man” by building his Passive House-inspired Earthships out on the deserts of New Mexico. Reynolds is a folk hero among environmentalists, bucking the trend of uniform housing developments that have a high carbon footprint. Indeed, new owners of net-zero homes almost always cite two things: They don’t worry about future costs for electricity and heating, and they view their home as the highest quality and most comfortable place money can buy. Simply put, a net-zero home is often defined as an energy-efficient home that produces all its own energy for heating, cooling, and electricity. Today’s net-zero homes take a lot of inspiration from the Passive House concept, pioneered by Dr. Wolfgang Feist in the 1990s in Germany. Passive homes are 90% more energy efficient than conventional homes and theoretically can be heated primarily by passive energy streaming through the windows. Michael Reynolds Earthships are off-grid, “autonomous” homes that go even further—producing onsite energy, food, water, and even waste treatment. Net-Zero for Quality and Future-Proofing Kevin Brosinsky read about and became quite enamored with the idea of a net-zero house just as he and wife Heather were about to build their dream retirement home in Leduc, Alberta. Leduc is perhaps ironically known as home to the discovery of oil in 1947 in oil-rich Alberta. Brosinsky had read that you could “heat it [a passive home] with a candle and cool it with an ice cube.” Kevin started looking around and soon learned quite a few builders specialized in net-zero homes, so he eventually landed on Butterwick Construction in Edmonton, Alberta. The custom net-zero home was tailor-made for Heather and Kevin’s retirement with a combined family room/kitchen with a second-level deck, a flex room for office and workouts, and the massive walk-in closet Heather always wanted. The home features 12-inch, double-studded R40 walls, continuous insulation from under the pad to the roof, an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, drain water heat recovery, and a heat pump water heater and clothes dryer. The home is so tight it records only about 0.6 air changes per hour—far less than the 4 to 10 air changes seen in traditional homes. Like many net-zero homeowners, Kevin likes the comfort and quality most, but he “really enjoy[s] the solar panels—all our future costs for electricity and heating are no longer a worry.” A heat recovery ventilator recovers more than 70% of the heat in the exhaust air while providing abundant fresh air. Kevin says the first time he woke up when it was -31°F (-35°C) outside, he had no idea it was that cold because his home was cozy, draft-free, and the same temperature as it always is. Like many net-zero homeowners, Kevin likes the comfort and quality most, but he “really enjoy[s] the solar panels—all our future costs for electricity and heating are no longer a worry.” Anatomy of a Net-Zero Home Dave Butterwick of Butterwick Construction has been building net-zero homes for ten years in cold climates. He says there are five main components of a net-zero home. Air sealing. Experienced builders emphasize air sealing is one of the most essential things in building an energy-efficient home. An air barrier on the outside of the home’s walls helps keep air exchanges down to below one per hour. Part of the secret of a net-zero home is that it has almost no holes in it, whereas traditional homes have gaping holes via the bathroom fans, kitchen fan, and vents for the water heater, furnace, and dryer. Insulation. A 12-inch-thick, double-studded wall system stuffed with cellulose insulation reaches an exceptional R40 insulation value. This insulation layer starts under the basement pad and continues up the walls right into the attic. Windows. Windows are the weakest link in any home. Tripled-paned windows, with either fiberglass or wood frames, are used to minimize thermal conductivity through the frames. Triple-paned windows reach R7 to R8, more than double the efficiency of standard double-paned windows. In a cold climate, north-facing windows are minimized, and south-facing windows have protective overhangs which allows the winter sun to stream in but not the summer sun to avoid overheating. Energy-efficient mechanical systems and appliances. An air source heat pump is up to 300% more efficient at heating and up to 700% more efficient at cooling, and it runs on electricity. Ground source heat pumps are even better but more expensive. These days there are cold climate heat pumps rated to an amazing –31°F (–35°C). And since net-zero homes are so tightly built, a heat recovery ventilator is essential for providing fresh air and, importantly, recovering 70%–90% of the heat in exhaust air. Energy-efficient appliances are also used. An induction stove is twice as efficient and much better performing than any other technology. Heat pump ventless dryers are other key additions—they do the job and don’t require a vent. Onsite renewable energy. These days one can install 400-watt solar modules that don’t take up a lot of space. The Brosinsky net-zero home has a 7.7-kilowatt solar system that provides all the energy for electricity, heating, and cooling of their home with some left over. Kevin even anticipated purchasing an electric car when they designed the capacity of his solar system. Dave Butterwick says those are the essential ingredients in a net-zero home but adds there are other considerations including the orientation of the lot to the sun. South-facing is usually better. The ‘Only Way to Build New Homes’ One year after Heather and Kevin moved into their net-zero home, Kevin is so sold on the concept he says this should be the “only way we build new homes.” Architecture 2030 is a non-profit set up in 2002 by Edward Mazria in the US. It championed standards that would reduce emissions in all new buildings by 80% by 2020 and set the goal for all new buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030. And indeed, the influential American Institute of Architects agreed and adopted the goal in 2006. They are pushing for a carbon neutral design standard by 2030. According to their stats, energy-efficiency in designs is on the increase and net-zero designs are rising too, making up 2.1% of projects in 2021. California adopted a net-zero code for residential building in 2020 and plans to extend this to commercial construction by 2030. In Canada, the Pan Canadian Framework calls for a net-zero building code by 2030. Building ‘Green’ Passive House and Net-Zero homes focus on becoming energy self-sustaining buildings, but there are many other aspects to consider in building green, or sustainable architecture. Sustainable features are often being integrated into net-zero projects, such as using water- and energy-conserving natural landscaping, and materials that are recyclable or reused or have low or no off-gassing. When the word “green” is used in architectural settings, it often refers to minimizing negative impacts on the environment and supporting or protecting biodiversity. There is a growing movement to make homes and buildings “climate resilient” by making them less susceptible to impacts of severe weather. There is also a growing movement to make homes and buildings “climate resilient” by making them less susceptible to floods, fires, heat waves, and other impacts of severe weather. For example, natural landscaping can produce local food, reduce water use, and promote water absorption from rain events, thus reducing the impacts of flooding. Energy, Emissions, and Climate Change Net-Zero homes do not use fossil fuels and therefore eliminate any bills associated with them. If a home is getting 100% of its net-annual energy from solar, the energy will be zero emissions too. This addresses the large amount of CO2 emissions related to climate change. In the United States, about one-third of emissions come from buildings, industry, and transportation, plus 11% comes from agriculture (see pie chart). Many jurisdictions are already setting net-zero standards for their own buildings, and many are looking at net-zero building codes. But of buildings expected to be in use in 2050, 80% are already built—and they are not very energy efficient. The Netherlands is addressing this huge challenge with a refurbishing concept called Energiesprong (Energy Leap). Existing homes are laser-scanned, and new walls and a roof are designed and built as panels in a factory. The homes are then renovated using the new panels to meet net-zero standards. There is now a “Stroomversnelling” deal in which contractors and housing associations are being contracted to refurbish 111,000 homes to net-zero. The idea is also taking hold in California where Realize-CA is working with the owners of 60,000 units to renovate them to net-zero using Energiesprong-inspired strategies. In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Butterwick Projects is renovating fifty-nine units of a housing cooperative to net-zero in one Energiesprong-inspired project. And progress is being made applying the net-zero idea to bigger buildings. The Salvation Army changed its request for proposal at the last minute for Grace Village, a 175-unit building. Instead of seeking conventional code-built construction, The Salvation Army asked for proposals to build net-zero ready, and they were very surprised when the quotes came in just over 1% higher. They expect to save $6 million in operating costs over twenty-five years as a result. As builders gain more net-zero experience and competition heats up, the costs are widely expected to come down, making net-zero homes even more affordable and accessible to more people. *David Dodge is an environmental journalist and a photojournalist who has worked for newspapers, published magazines, produced radio, and was the production manager for Canadian Lone Pine Publishing company, a nature publisher that produced nature and travel guides for locales all over North America. He produced more than 350 award-winning EcoFile radio programs on sustainability for CKUA Radio. His website: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca

In its State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 report, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned about 811 million people today are hungry, while 3 billion “cannot afford healthy diets.” With fishing and aquaculture playing a major role in feeding global populations, the FAO keeps a close eye on the industry. Here is some of the key data in their latest annual report. In 2020, fisheries and aquaculture production reached a record 214 million tons, valued at about $424 billion. Aquatic foods provide about 17% of global animal protein, reaching over 50% in the cases of several nations in Africa and Asia. Aquatic animal production in 2020 was over 60% higher than the average in the 1990s—substantially outpacing global population growth—mostly due to increased aquaculture production. Total aquatic animal production is projected to reach 202 million tons in 2030, due mostly to growth of aquaculture. People are eating more seafoods than ever—about 20.2 kg (44.5 pounds) per capita in 2020—more than twice the average of 9.9 kg (21.8 pounds) per capita per year in the 1960s. Asia dominates world aquaculture, producing 91.6% of the global total. Fishery stocks—within biologically sustainable levels—declined to 64.6% in 2019, but 82.5% of 2019 landings were from biologically sustainable stocks, a 3.8% increase from 2017 levels. Aquaculture expansion has led to growth of aquatic animal production in inland waters (from 12% of total production in the late 1980s to 37% in 2020). Source: https://www.fao.org/3/cc0461en/cc0461en.pdf