By Kathleen Hwang* Food Truck of Love volunteers providing packed lunches at the Gapyeong disaster site. ©Gapyeong County Office  Upon hearing that heavy rains had ravaged people’s homes and lives in Gapyeong County, Go Eun Kim, president of Women’s Federation for World Peace Korea , did not hesitate. “It was simple: They need help, we have to help,” she said. Within two days, she had raised a small army of women volunteers, bringing material support, solace and comfort to the victims.   Record Rainfall Wreaks Havoc In mid-July 2025, South Korea faced one of its most devastating natural disasters in recent memory. Torrential rains, beginning on July 16, led to catastrophic flooding and landslides.  The disaster resulted in  at least 24 deaths and left numerous individuals missing. Over 15,000 residents were evacuated, and thousands of homes, farms, and infrastructures were severely damaged.   One of two areas most severely impacted was Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, in the northeastern part of the country. It received 322 mm (12.6 in) of rain  over five days, including 110 mm (4.3 in) in the early morning of July 20. The area is mountainous and a popular tourist site in summer. Towns and campgrounds located in valleys quickly flooded as rivers overflowed; roads turned to streams or were buried by landslides, and bridges collapsed.  A collapsed building in Jojong-myeon, Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, after heavy rain in July. ©The Segye Times Seven people died, including local residents and campers. More than 4,000 households  lost power, and according to the county mayor, about 1,300 were displaced to temporary shelters after their homes were inundated by water and mud.   Gapyeong County Mayor Teaweon Seo immediately activated the emergency response system, sending teams of government employees to each township and district, and deploying heavy equipment, including excavators, dump trucks, and pump trucks. The military was called in to reinforce river embankments and remove debris.             “Military equipment and soldiers played a particularly important role in dangerous areas difficult for civilians to access,” said Mayor Seo, who was onsite daily to personally assess the situation. “The greatest challenge was the inability to restore all sites simultaneously due to the extent of the damage. Resources and equipment were limited, and areas at risk of landslides were difficult to access. Some villages had completely lost roads and bridges, requiring helicopters to deliver relief supplies.” Gapyeong County Mayor Seo (left, wearing a light-yellow coat) and Gyeonggi Province Governor Dong-yeon Kim (center, wearing a yellow vest) inspect the flood site.  ©Gapyeong County Office Seo then escalated the issue to Governor Dong-yeon Kim of Gyeonggi Province, where Gapyeong is situated. Governor Kim was also on the scene on July 20 and made follow-up visits in subsequent days to monitor the situation. He then set up a support headquarters, deployed members of the Civil Service Volunteer Corps, and contacted Minister of the Interior and Safety Ho-jung Yun to request that Gapyeong County be designated as a special disaster area. The Ministry of Interior and Safety then designated Gapyeong County as one of six special disaster areas , making available disaster relief funds to rebuild both public facilities and individual households. Expanded funding allowed Gyeonggi Governor Kim to allocate provincial relief funds to small businesses, farming households, and bereaved families.   WFWP’s Flood Relief Cleanup Efforts   While the government and the military worked to stabilize embankments, build temporary bridges, and divert traffic to safe passageways, local residents (many of whom are elderly) were struggling to clear mud from their homes and salvage their lives. Go Eun Kim, President of WFWP Korea.  ©The Earth & I Upon receiving reports of the natural disaster and extensive damage in Gapyeong, the women at the WFWP Korea headquarters immediately convened an emergency meeting. “People were suffering and in desperate need of support … I felt a deep sense of responsibility, not only to provide material help but to express solidarity and compassion,” said Mrs. Kim, president of WFWP Korea.   WFWP issued a call to action through its regional chapters. Within the first two days, 110 members joined the effort, and over the course of the following two weeks, more than 400 volunteers from 65 WFWP chapters across South Korea took part. Participants included WFWP members and their families (husbands and children), students, and interfaith peace activists.   “Many adjusted their work schedules or took personal leave to join, demonstrating extraordinary solidarity and compassion,” Mrs. Kim said. “Our plan of action centered on two key principles: rapid mobilization and heartfelt service.” As the Gapyeong County Office was focusing on disaster relief and infrastructure rebuilding, WFWP’s volunteers stepped in to coordinate and assign volunteers to help families, in close communication with the WFWP Gapyeong chapter. WFWP members and HJ Peace Corps volunteers shoveling soil and sand from around flood-stricken homes and placing them in sacks for removal.  ©WFWP “The scenes we encountered were devastating,” Mrs. Kim said. “Entire homes were buried in mud, elderly residents were stranded without power or communication, and families were overwhelmed by loss—both material and emotional. Beyond the visible destruction, there was a deep sense of helplessness and grief in the community. Our volunteers not only helped clean debris but also offered emotional comfort, often simply by being present and listening.” Local women’s associations and church networks provided crucial on-the-ground information and helped volunteers identify vulnerable households in need of urgent assistance. “Their cooperation was vital in tailoring our support to the unique needs of each community,” Mrs. Kim said.   Based on this information, WFWP organized teams that helped with removing mud and debris from elderly care facilities, restoring kitchens and community spaces, organizing temporary meal stations, and supporting basic sanitation. Teams worked in shifts to manually clear hallways and dining areas filled with sludge. In farming areas, volunteers cleared fields of stones and branches and helped to plant new crops. Each volunteer group was led by an experienced regional coordinator to ensure order and safety. WFWP members organizing food and other items in the kitchen of a flood-stricken home in the Gapyeong area.  ©WFWP The work was physically and emotionally demanding, but the volunteers were committed and persistent. “Although it was a hot day, we cleaned up the flooded houses, organized household items and household appliances, and cleared tree branches and blocked drains,” said Mrs. Chiho Shinohara, chairwoman of the WFWP Gangwon Branch, which sent 21 volunteers. “It was particularly meaningful because the volunteers included young people and students on vacation.” WFWP chapters also collected donations from their membership, which were used to provide food and household necessities to those in need.   “We were met with deep gratitude and heartfelt emotion,” said Mrs. Kim. “Some residents, overwhelmed by the sudden loss of family members and neighbors, tearfully expressed, ‘In the midst of such devastation, we didn’t know where to begin, but you came and extended a helping hand, and for that, we are truly thankful.’”    Long-term Impacts One month after the disaster, many residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives. “The biggest problem is housing,” said Mayor Seo.   “Those whose homes were completely destroyed need long-term replacement housing. While water, electricity, and communication services have been restored for most households through emergency repairs, many [others] have lost all basic necessities. Many residents have lost their livelihoods, with household items and farm machinery gone,” he said.   Full restoration of the area’s infrastructure will take two to three years, the mayor said. “In agriculture, damage to greenhouses, storage facilities and crops disrupted harvesting and shipping. In tourism, major hiking trails and campsites suffered damage, leading to numerous cancellations,” he said. “The local economy inevitably suffered.”   Beyond restoration, government leaders aim to prevent recurrence by improving structural safety, including river restoration, drainage expansion, and embankment reinforcement. Insights for Future Response Through this experience, “we reaffirmed that the speed of the initial response determines the extent of damage,” said Mayor Seo. It is important to be prepared with sufficient equipment and personnel, he said, including cooperation with village-level organizations to enhance initial response capabilities. Also, evacuation training for residents is necessary.   As for WFWP, Mrs. Kim said, “We gained three key insights from this experience: the necessity of advance preparedness systems, the importance of strong local partnerships, and the central role of emotional care in disaster response. As natural disasters become more frequent in our time, we plan to establish regional, women-led emergency response networks throughout the country. These networks will be supported by ongoing training in crisis psychology and rapid-response coordination to enhance our organizational resilience and preparedness.”   Emotional support is an often-overlooked element of disaster response that NGOs like WFWP are in a unique position to provide. As Mayor Seo said, “It gave the affected residents a sense of psychological comfort, a sense that they were not alone. While material support was important, the sweat and tears shared on the ground, offering comfort, bolstered the residents' will to recover.”   The women volunteers of WFWP have made a long-term commitment to the people of Gapyeong Country, and they plan to continue their support until the victims’ lives return to normal. Working there has been a very meaningful experience for many of them, Mrs. Kim said.   “Initially, the magnitude of the damage felt overwhelming. But as days passed, we witnessed tangible change—not just in the physical environment but in the emotional atmosphere. Homes became livable again. Smiles slowly returned. Neighbors began helping neighbors. It reminded us that small, sincere actions can ignite profound transformation.”   This is the essence of WFWP’s mission, Mrs. Kim explained. “Volunteerism is not simply a choice for us—it is at the very heart of who we are. This was a moment when we put into action the words of our founding mother, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, who has continually emphasized: ‘Embrace, serve, and heal humanity with the heart of a mother.’ This is the founding spirit of the Women’s Federation for World Peace, and the beginning of the true, sustainable peace we strive to cultivate and bear witness to.” *Kathleen Hwang   is a writer and editor living in South Korea. She formerly worked as a reporter for The Washington Times , correspondent for United Press International, and editor for Asia Literary Review .   The author interviewed Gapyeong County Governor Teaweon Seo and WFWP Korea President Go Eun Kim, and their responses were translated into English.

Sunscreen Protects Skin, But Can Be Toxic to Marine Life By Francesca Bell-Miller* Applying sunscreen is typical especially during the summer.  ©iStock/MelkiNimages Day after day, the Sun provides the heat and light that allows life to flourish on Earth. Its powerful rays impact the wind, clouds, ocean currents, and countless other essential activities on the planet.   But due to the Sun’s high temperatures, especially in summer months, humanity is constantly seeking peaceful coexistence with it.   A robust “sun protection” industry has emerged to literally block sunrays, sparing people from dangerous sunburns and even cancer. Yet, concerns have now risen about the chemical components in sun products that can threaten fragile environments, such as coral reefs.   As a result, the industry is doing introducing products it deems “reef friendly,” according to The New York Times .   The Sun’s Powerful Rays The Sun emits energy in a spectrum, from infrared radiation (which is felt as heat) to visible light and invisible light, including ultraviolet (UV) waves. Research has shown that unprotected exposure to certain types of UV radiation , specifically UV-A and UV-B, causes skin issues—including cancer—as well as eye damage. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70, says the Personal Care Products Council , a trade group for manufacturers of cosmetics and products such as sunscreens.   To deal with UV radiation, people have taken to using topical sun protection, with specific properties depending on the country . There are two types of sun protection : physical blockers that reflect UV rays (sunblock) and chemical blockers that absorb UV rays (sunscreen). The terms “sunblock” and “sunscreen” are often used interchangeably.    Given the “consistent growth” of the sun protection skin care industry, … the use of topical sun protection raises concerns of it leaching into the environment.   However, given the “consistent growth” of the sun protection skin care industry—with revenue projected to reach about $13.5 billion by 2028 , according to Market.us Media—the use of topical sun protection raises concerns of it leaching into the environment. It is thus important to be aware of the properties of topical sun protection and its potential environmental impacts.   Physical and Chemical Blockers The first sunscreens were developed over the 1880s and early 1890s, until emerging as ready-to-buy topical creams, such as Coppertone and Glacier Cream in the 1940s, according to a published history  by Baylor University Medical Center.   Physical blockers, more commonly known as mineral sunscreens, reflect  UV radiation  away from the skin. Zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (also known as inorganic UV filters) are typically the active ingredients in mineral sunscreens. In micronized sunscreens (with very small particle sizes), however, “the mechanism of action is similar to that of chemical filters,” says a 2020 study , such as for zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.  Top examples of mineral sunscreens include products like MDSolarSciences Mineral Moisture Defense SPF 50 and Australian Gold Mineral SPF 50 , according to Forbes magazine . Titanium dioxide can be found in paint pigments, glass, cosmetics, and some foods, in addition to sunblock.  © Yasmina et al. 2021  (CC BY 4.0) Chemical filters or blockers have active ingredients that absorb UV rays before the skin can soak them up. Also known as organic UV filters, these include oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, and octinoxate, and 55 different types  are registered for use worldwide. Oxybenzone , for example, is used in cosmetics but is known to cause eye and respiratory irritation and is “very toxic to aquatic life.”   Chemical sunscreens without oxybenzone include products like Banana Boat Light As Air SPF 50+, Solimo Sheer Face Sunscreen SPR 50+, and Black Girl SPF 30, according to The New York Times .   The US set standards in 1999 for the maximum concentration of active ingredients in sunscreen. For example, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide can be up to 25%, while others such as oxybenzone and dioxybenzone can be up to 6% and 3%, respectively. Concentration limits vary  worldwide based on different regulations.   Given these limitations, along with how the absorbed UV spectrum varies  with each active ingredient, a single sunscreen may have a combination of various active ingredients. Typically, three to eight organic UV filters —up to 15% of the sunscreen’s total mass—can be found in a single sunscreen. SPF and UV Protection The US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) defines SPF   (sun protection factor) as a measurement of the amount of (absorbed) UV radiation required to produce sunburn on protected skin versus unprotected skin. This means that SPF is not directly correlated with the amount of time spent under the sun, as the sun’s intensity varies throughout the day. Other factors such as skin color (with lighter skin absorbing more solar radiation) and weather (with clouds absorbing some of the solar radiation) can affect the amount of UV radiation required before sunburn. Thus, a higher SPF value means a protected person can tolerate a higher amount of UV radiation before getting sunburned. According to Raman Madan, MD, a dermatologist with Northwell Health , SPF values can be expressed in a different way: SPF 2 “protects against 50% of UVB rays” and SPF 10 to 100 protects against 90% to 99% of UVB rays. “The difference between SPF 30 and SPF 100 is marginal at most,” he says.   Environmental Impacts of Sunscreen Sunscreen leaches into the marine environment, whether directly (from swimming) or indirectly (such as from wastewater), resulting in UV filters being absorbed by marine species.   A 2022 study , for example, estimated that a thousand swimmers could deposit more than 36 kg (79 lbs.) of sunscreen per day into the water. The researchers said the freshwater “beach showers” in tourist locations were especially likely to transfer sunscreen into coastal waters. Sunscreen can leach into the water while swimming.  Pexels/Larry Snickers (Free for use) According to a 2022 study by the National Academies of Science (NAS), measurements of most organic UV filters in water were below 1 microgram per liter (µg/L), with the exception of five UV filters in the range of 1 to 10 µg/L. While this is below the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard of 1,000 µg/L for “highly toxic,” some UV filters (such as for zinc oxide, oxybenzone, and dioxybenzone) had organisms with lethal concentrations under this threshold, along with three UV filters (avobenzone, octocrylene, and octinoxate) having organisms with lethal concentrations under 100 µg/L. The study also acknowledges that “[t]he compounds used as UV filters are not used exclusively in products marketed as sunscreens. Many different products may contribute to the release and detection of UV filters in the environment.” A 2025 review   by University of Plymouth researchers of studies on the impacts of UV filters on marine organisms goes through a list of species and UV filter(s) tested on each species. For example, titanium dioxide was found to cause rapid bleaching, growth inhibition, and reduced moisture content in corals ( Zoanthus sp. ), skeletal malformations in sea urchins ( Paracentrotus lividus ), and death for zooplankton ( Brachionus plicatilis ) used for fish larvae feed. Zinc oxide was found to inhibit growth in various algae and cellular damage in the Mediterranean mussel ( Mytilus galloprovincialis ). It was estimated … that 25% of the sunscreen used by 78 million tourists—or about 4,000–6,000 tons—leached into reef areas in tropical countries. It was estimated in a 2008 study , for example, that 25% of the sunscreen used by 78 million tourists—or about 4,000–6,000 tons—leached into reef areas in tropical countries. Since then, the 2025 review  claims that “6,000–14,000 tons of UV filters wash into coral reef zones every year.” Coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 2015.  © The Ocean Agency  / Ocean Image Bank UV filters such as oxybenzone and benzophenone-2 are a concern, as sunscreen with oxybenzone has been banned in Hawaii  since 2021 and benzophenone-2 is a genotoxicant  (or causes genetic damage) to corals. One 2015 study  goes as far as to say that oxybenzone, also a genotoxicant to corals, “poses a hazard to coral reef conservation and threatens the resiliency of coral reefs to climate change.” A blog by the Victoria University of Wellington claims that at “concentrations comparable to one drop in 6 and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools, these compounds are a detriment to coral species.” Unfortunately, traditional sewage and water treatment technologies, such as ozonation, cannot remove most UV filter compounds from the water, so overuse should be avoided. There has been research, however, on using biodegradable microbeads  to absorb the oxybenzone and then removing the microbeads through the use of magnets. Recommendations In light of NAS’s 2022 study, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration   recommends mineral sunscreen over those with chemical UV filters, seeking shade between 10 am and 2 pm, using umbrellas and hats, as well as wearing UV protective clothing as an alternative. When applying sunscreen, the FDA recommends   2 milligrams per square centimeter of skin, which is the same amount used for testing SPF. A girl wearing a UV protective swimsuit. ©Flickr/Eco Stinger (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Consumers can begin to look for “reef safe” notations on the sunscreens they buy, said The New York Times , noting that Hero Superlight Sunscreen SPF 30 and Vanicream Facial Moisturizer with SPF 30 were examples of such products. A group called Save the Reef, which has a Reef Safe Sunscreen Guide , urges consumers to check ingredients and avoid 10 items. According to Harvard Health , everyone should use sunscreen because “we are all at risk of the adverse effects of UV radiation and can benefit from protection,” even more so for those with lighter skin. “We recommend sunscreen for skin cancer prevention, including melanoma prevention, which has been demonstrated in cohort studies as well as prospective randomized trials,” says Dr. Jennifer Lin of Harvard Medical School in a 2021 interview . Regardless of skin color, “people looking to ward off the aging effects from sun would still benefit from sun-protective habits, which include sunscreen, sun-protective clothing, and sun avoidance,” she adds. *Francesca Bell-Miller is a freelance writer and editor who currently resides in New England. She has worked on articles, newsletters, memoirs, and novels and aspires to publish her own novels. She believes strongly in the magic of language & storytelling. Danika Cantrell , a freelance writer, assisted with research for the article.

Experts Sound Alarm for Lost Mammal Habitat, Populations By Dhanada Mishra* Will there always be wild elephants? ©lara zanarini/iStock The conservation world went quiet on May 29 when Valmik Thapar—India’s "Tiger Warrior"—took his last breath. For 50 years, his raspy voice had thundered through bureaucratic halls, fighting for Bengal tigers when only 1,411 remained. There are 3,167 today . In his obituary in The Hindu,   Thapar’ s  family said he dedicated much of his life “in the searing heat or an icy cold winter morning” to establishing forest reserves and tiger  corridors throughout the country.  Days later, as World Environment Day  passed, people received fresh news that they are not doing enough to save wildlife. Bengal tigers in India’s Kanha National Park.   Ashish Mahaur  (CC BY-SA 4.0) Valmik Thapar   Zaidshehzad1991  (CC BY-SA 3) The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed many kinds of lemurs, monkeys, langurs, macaques, and gibbons in its “Primates in Peril”  report of the world’s 25 most endangered primates 2023-2025. Consider the African elephant, not as a statistic, but as Hope —a 55-year-old matriarch in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park . Satellite collars show her herd’s range has shrunk 40% since her birth. She’s witnessed poachers kill her sisters and Africa’s droughts starve her calves. Currently, the African savanna elephant  is considered “endangered” and the African forest elephant  is “critically endangered,” according to the IUCN Red List. In the last 53 years, “[f]orest elephant sites have declined on average by 90%, whereas savanna elephant sites have declined by 70%,” according to a 2024 PNAS study. However, Hope’s life story mirrors the species’ struggles: In the last 53 years, “[f]orest elephant sites have declined  on average by 90%, whereas savanna elephant sites have declined by 70%,” according to a 2024 PNAS study . Researchers used data on elephant population surveys done at 475 sites in 37 countries from 1964 through 2016. Over the decades, poaching and habitat loss reduced the populations at the sites; however, conservation efforts helped savanna elephants rebuild their numbers, the PNAS study said. Large, wild mammals like Hope are already scarce: Land mammals, large and small, constitute just 2% of Earth’s mammal biomass , while marine mammals make up another 2%, says a 2022  article in OurWorldinData.org . The same study finds humans make up 34% of the mammal biomass. But the livestock humans raise—including cattle, pigs, buffalo, sheep, goats, horses, camels, and asses—is 62%. In one sense, it could be said that humanity has turned much of the Earth’s landmass into factory farms and ranches, with wildlife relegated to shrinking islands of land. An estimated 96% of Earth’s animal biomass comprises humans and their livestock. (cc) Ahmet Çığşar In Sumatra’s Batang Toru rainforest, a different tragedy may be unfolding. A male Tapanuli orangutan— one of only 800 left —is already the rarest great ape. The species was only discovered in 2017, according to an article in Current Biology . "There are no captive lifelines," geneticist Christian Roos of the German Primate Center warns . "This species could vanish before most people learn its name." The average size of monitored wildlife populations has declined by 73%  since 1970, according to World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF)  Living Planet Report 2024 . The Tapanuli orangutan habitat, which is being fragmented by a hydroelectric dam, could be seen as a microcosm of the global onslaught. The average size of monitored wildlife populations has declined by 73%  since 1970,  according to World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF)   Living Planet Report 2024 . WWF notes that the percentage change in the index “reflects the average proportional change in monitored animal population sizes at sites around the world, not the number of individual animals lost, nor the number of populations lost.” The steepest drops in monitored wildlife populations are “recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (95%),” the WWF report adds. This was followed by Africa (76%), Asia–Pacific (60%), North America (39%), and Europe and Central Asia (35%). “When nature is compromised, it is more vulnerable to climate change and edges closer to dangerous and irreversible regional tipping points,” WWF Chief Scientist Rebecca Shaw said when the WWF report was released in October 2024. Rare lemur ( Propithecus diadema ) in Madagascar. ©mirecca/ iStock Why Are Sanctuaries Failing? Europe’s protected areas offer a grim answer. A June 2025 Guardian   investigation revealed that —even in these guarded havens—"numbers of flying insects in 63 reserves [in Germany] fell by 75% in under 30 years.”   The authors of a 2022 study in Nature  wrote that “ Calls  to conserve 30% of the Earth’s surface by 2030 are gathering pace, but we show that protection alone does not guarantee good biodiversity outcomes." Climate-related issues, such as drought and erosion, and even invasive species, ignore park boundaries. Poachers, pollutants, and other climate impacts are not stopped by fences. "You cannot protect what you don’t value." Thapar understood this. His genius wasn’t just creating tiger reserves—it was making them work. He armed rangers with military-grade gear, lobbied for life sentences for poachers, and convinced villages that living tigers brought more tourism revenue than dead ones could fetch on the black market. "You cannot protect what you don’t value," he often said . His model offers a blueprint, yet scaling it demands unprecedented global will. Amboseli National Park has become a “ symbol of hope ” for the African elephant ( Loxodonta   africana ), as well as the Maasai giraffe ( Giraffa tippelskirchi ). The park’s success in recovering elephant and giraffe populations depends on habitat protection and community-based conservation and anti-poaching efforts, including compensating herdsmen for cattle killed by elephants, thus lowering incidents of revenge killing . “The fight is far from over,“ the park admits. “The privatization of migratory lands,” they add, remains a major threat to the “long-term survival of these species.” The Unravelling Web When mammals vanish, ecosystem imbalances multiply: In Yellowstone National Park, wolves  keep elk from devouring young trees that lock away carbon. In the oceans, whale excrement fertilizes phytoplankton that absorb 4 0% of CO₂ emissions. Bats control mosquito populations that carry Z ika and malaria. Losing them isn’t just an ecological tragedy—it’s societal suicide. When insect populations crash in Europe’s reserves, pollination fails. As elephants disappear, seed dispersal stops, weakening forests that stabilize the climate. "The situation is dramatic. If we don't act now, we will lose some of these species forever," says Roos. “In the web of life, every living thing is reliant on the other” Pathways from the Precipice On New Years Day 2025, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged  nations to "exit this road to ruin." Evidence shows wildlife recovery is possible when people commit to: Rewilding Agriculture: Costa Rica doubled its forest cover since the 1980s by paying farmers  to conserve trees rather than clear them. Genetic Rescue: Moving isolated Tapanuli orangutans to breed with other groups  could prevent inbreeding and extinction. Crushing Trafficking: INTERPOL estimates  $21 billion/year in illegal wildlife trade. Freezing traffickers’ assets and treating networks like cartels could cripple them. Climate Corridors : Creating wildlife highways linking lowland habitats to cooler highlands  as temperatures rise. "The Earth isn’t running out of time—we are.” Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail, framed the crisis  on World Environment Day 2025 with chilling clarity: "The Earth isn’t running out of time—we are.” The IPBES’s 2019 global assessment report  validates his warning, stating that “it is probabl e that at least a million animal and plant species—more than one in eight—already face global extinction." Over 40% of Insect species—foundational to food chains— are threatened  with extinction . The Somali wild ass, which may have less than 700 individuals in the wild, is critically endangered, according to IUCN Red List. ( Equus asinus somalicus )  (cc) T.Voekler  (CC-BY-SA-3.0) In Sumatra, rangers plant fig trees—orangutan favorites—along forest edges. In India, Thapar’s disciples patrol tiger lands, using AI-poaching prediction algorithms. Their battle isn’t just about saving species. It’s about preserving wonder, stability, and humanity’s place in a living world.   As twilight deepens over Hope the elephant, her shadow stretches long across the savanna. It mirrors humanity’s choice: solidarity with life, or the deafening silence of a planet where the wild heart no longer beats. *Dhanada K Mishra is a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and is currently working as the Managing Director of a Hong Kong-based AI startup for building technology for the sustainability of built infrastructure ( www.raspect.ai ). He writes on environmental issues, sustainability, the climate crisis, and built infrastructure.

How Two Albanian Activists Saved the Vjosa River and Won the Goldman Environmental Prize By Mark Smith* Besjana Guri and Olsi Nika with the Vjosa River behind them. Credit: The Goldman Environmental Prize Through some of Europe’s most stunning countryside, an epic 167-mile story flows—a story of how courage, determination, and sacrifice by ordinary people saved one of the continent’s last surviving “wild” rivers. The Vjosa River is as ancient as it is spectacular, traveling down from the Pindos Mountains of Greece to the Adriatic Sea in Albania. In addition to its natural beauty, the Vjosa supports  a vast biodiversity of 1,175 plant and animal species, including 39 threatened species and 119 protected under Albanian law. As a “wild river,” its flow was unobstructed by dams and other man-made structures, in stark contrast to Western Europe’s waterways, which have 1.2 million dams and other barriers  blocking them. These watercourses have witnessed a 94% drop in migratory fish species. Hydropower station in Switzerland.  Wikimedia Threat of Hydropower Albania was facing the same potential future when, several years ago, plans to develop hydropower along the river were unveiled. Dozens of dams would have been constructed, breaking the flow of the river and causing potential harm to wildlife habitats, while spoiling an area of peerless natural beauty right in the heart of the continent. A study by senior scientist Dr. Paul Meulenbroek  of Boku University in Vienna, Austria, found the project would “significantly” degrade the “extremely high ecological value” of the entire Vjosa, from the delta to the upstream areas of the planned damming. This stark new reality prompted action from concerned environmental campaigners, giving rise to the Blue Heart of Europe , a coalition of NGOs determined to not only stop plans for hydropower dams but also to establish a national park that would see rewilding and other efforts to protect and preserve the environment. The first such project in Europe to protect a wild river, the campaign was the brainchild of Albanian activists Besjana Guri and Olsi Nika. Besjana and Olsi overlooking the Vjosa River. Credit: Adrian Guri ‘Ordinary’ Heroes Besjana was a social worker by profession but had always felt drawn to environmentalism. And due to the nature of her job, she understood how nature beneficially impacted people and wider communities. “From childhood, I've always felt deeply connected to nature—playing outdoors, exploring. It was just part of who I was,” she told The Earth & I . Olsi was raised in a small town where nature and the sea were simply part of growing up—before “the age of video games and smartphones,” as he put it. At first, Besjana did not understand how unique or important the Vjosa was, but the more she learned, the more it became more than a job: It became—in her words—a mission. “I poured all my energy and passion into the campaign, and that passion is still with me today.” “The idea that we could stop destructive dam projects and create a national park instead—that was incredibly powerful. As a young woman of 25, I poured all my energy and passion into the campaign, and that passion is still with me today.” First Steps Upon deciding to take on this massive challenge, their first step was to seek out organizations to work with, such as universities and environmental institutes, to ensure their own claims about the river were backed by “robust, peer-reviewed data.” While their opponents commissioned their own studies, Olsi and Besjana countered these claims by emphasizing the “transparency, independence, and methodological rigor” of their own research. “Our assertions were strongly supported by independent scientific research conducted by ecologists, hydrologists, and biodiversity experts,” Olsi said. “Numerous studies highlighted the Vjosa River’s unique ecological value as one of Europe’s last wild rivers, home to hundreds of endangered species.” Video  of drone flight over the Vjosa River. They also organized public forums where scientists from both sides could present and debate their findings openly, an approach that Olsi said helped the public and policymakers fully understand the issue. Basjana said the pair also received support from international organizations like RiverWatch, EuroNatur, and Patagonia. “There were plans for about 45 dams in the Vjosa basin, threatening to flood villages or dry up the river.” “Their guidance was invaluable in raising the Vjosa issue on a global scale,” she said, adding, “And, of course, the people of the Vjosa Valley—they were our true allies. We worked closely with the communities, keeping them informed and supporting them in the fight against those hydropower projects. There were plans for about 45 dams in the Vjosa basin, threatening to flood villages or dry up the river.” Targeting Election Campaigns Once the evidence was collected and local communities were onboard, they turned to the fight for political support. And they managed to leverage the fact that elections often focus the attentions of those in power. “Usually, we have played the card of using the election campaign, period,” said Olsi. “A solid and widespread communication campaign has pushed the politicians, including the Prime Minister of Albania, to get massively confronted with the Vjosa case publicly, to the point that he couldn’t ignore it anymore.” History Is Made Their work saw the river’s historic designation as the Vjosa Wild River National Park by the Albanian Government in March  2023 , making it the first such park in Europe. This status safeguards not just the river itself but its free-flowing tributaries, spanning a total of 250 miles, protecting more than 31,000 acres. It also means commercial activity is prohibited in three-quarters of the park, with the remaining quarter being available to traditional grazing methods. The status also means no dams are permitted on the Vjosa within Albanian territory. This was an “incredible moment,” Basjana said. “It was a huge milestone for our team and a personal triumph. Seeing that dream finally come true, it made all the effort worth it.” Olsi added: “It’s also a powerful example that sustainable development and conservation can go hand in hand. Seeing the Vjosa protected as a wild river national park is not just a personal achievement, it’s a win for all who believe in defending the last free-flowing rivers of Europe.” The mouth of the Vjosa River. Wikimedia Overreliance on Hydropower But what would they say to those who believe Albania has missed out on a potential new energy source? “Albania's energy problem stems from an overreliance on hydropower—almost 100%.” Basjana countered. “Albania's energy problem stems from an overreliance on hydropower — almost 100%.” “We've always felt it was unacceptable to exploit all our rivers, especially those within national parks and sensitive ecosystems, when other sources like solar and wind haven't been seriously considered until recently.” Winning the Goldman Environmental Prize Their efforts were so successful that they were honored with the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize in April of this year. Often referred to as the “Green Nobel Prize,” the international award recognizes grassroots environmental activists from around the globe. “Winning the Goldman Environmental Prize was an unbelievable surprise—such an honor.” Basjana said. “It was amazing acknowledgement of almost 12 years of hard work. I never dreamed that something like that could happen. From the moment I got the call from the Goldman Environmental Prize until the ceremony at the Opera House in San Francisco, it was just incredible. It marked one of the most special events of my life. And its echo continues.” Video : How the activists saved the Vjosa and won the Goldman Environmental Prize. Credit: The Goldman Environmental Prize The pair now hopes their success will help inspire others too. “I’ve had the privilege of sharing our experiences and offering advice to other campaigners, whether through speaking engagements, strategy sessions, or informal exchanges,” Olsi said. “It's been incredibly rewarding to contribute in this way and help build a stronger, united movement for river protection worldwide.” *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.

From Curiosity to Conservation, from Explorer to Activist By Mal Cole* Over decades, Sir David Attenborough discovered “the wild was far from unlimited. ... It needs protecting.” John Cairns In celebration of his 99th birthday, broadcaster, naturalist, and international treasure Sir David Attenborough released a new film, Ocean , on Hulu. “After living for nearly one hundred years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land but at sea,” Attenborough says in the trailer  to his latest project. The film, released on May 8 in Britain and June 8 in the US, is not just a love letter to the sea but a call to action. Attenborough beseeches his audience to fight for change  and demonstrates how preservation and recovery of ocean life is possible. The film reviews the course of ocean discoveries throughout Attenborough’s lifetime, current threats to the ocean’s ecosystems, and his vision of a brighter, more sustainable future. In this way, the film reflects Attenborough’s own lifelong evolution from a young explorer to one of the natural world’s most passionate advocates.   Early Days: Fascination With Nature When the naturalist was growing up in Leicester, England, in the 1930s, he reveled in his freedom to explore the countryside on his bicycle. He discovered tiny worlds under rocks, looked for newts and frogs , and collected fossils. “It never occurred to me to be anything other than fascinated when watching what was going on in the natural world about me,” Attenborough wrote in his 2020 book, A Life on Our Planet. This fascination led him to study natural sciences at Cambridge University and eventually to a career producing nonfiction programs for the BBC in the 1950s. His early work in documentaries and television focused on discovering and filming animals in their natural habitats. Many of these animals were ones Western television audiences had never seen filmed in the wild, including the sloth, pangolin, and Komodo dragon, he wrote. Those early programs were a part of Attenborough’s Zoo Quest series. Some of the animals in the program were also captured to study and exhibit at the London Zoo. Attenborough has said that he reflects on this early period with “ mixed feelings . ” To the young producer, the wilderness appeared pristine and infinite. Through his flawlessly produced nature documentaries, Attenborough brought such exotic animals as the pangolin into Western families’ living rooms.  ©Frank Kohn, US Fish & Wildlife Service “Back then,” he said on the 2020 Netflix documentary,  David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet , “it seemed inconceivable that we, a single species, might one day have the power to threaten the very existence of the wilderness.” “Back then, it seemed inconceivable that we, a single species, might one day have the power to threaten the very existence of the wilderness.” Advocating for Conservation and Extinction Prevention The need for habitat preservation became evident to Attenborough through the passion of conservationists and experts he encountered while making his documentaries. When he first visited East Africa in 1960, he learned through the work of nature preservation advocate Bernhard Grzimek that the  Serengeti is a delicate ecosystem, and its sheer vastness is necessary for the herds of animals that make their home there. The word “serengeti” means “endless plains” in the Maasai language, but as Attenborough discovered, “the wild was far from unlimited; it’s finite. It needs protecting.” Because of his degrees in zoology and geology, and his fossil-hunting missions as a boy, Attenborough knew about mass extinctions. But the possibility of the death of an entire species in his lifetime shocked him. In 1978, he visited seriously endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda as part of his 13-episode Life on Earth series. Through the work of American biologist Dian Fossey, who would go on to write the 1983 memoir Gorillas in the Mist, Attenborough   learned that there were fewer than 300 mountain gorillas left in Rwanda due to habitat loss and brutal poaching. Attenborough wanted his audience to know how gentle the mountain gorillas were and how similar they were to human beings. “The awful truth,” he wrote in his 2020 book, “was that the process of extinction that I had seen as a boy in the rocks was happening right here around me, to animals with which I was familiar—our closest relatives. And we were responsible.” Adult female wild mountain gorilla holds young gorilla onto her stomach in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. In his Gorillas in the Mist  memoir, Attenborough brought attention to the plight of the endangered mountain gorillas of Rwanda.  ©Andy Doyle/iStock Before Attenborough left Rwanda, Fossey asked him to promise to help protect the gorillas, and he began raising money as soon as he returned to London.  “The awful truth was that the process of extinction that I had seen as a boy in the rocks was happening right here around me, to animals with which I was familiar—our closest relatives. And we were responsible.” Attenborough became a vocal advocate  for conservation and an international ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund as early as their founding in 1961. In 2021, he was honored  with the UN Champion of the Earth - Lifetime Achievement Award , the UN’s highest environmental honor, with many other accolades in between. This passion for preservation and his understanding of how the actions of human beings were detrimental to the Earth’s wild places were evident in his work as early as the final episode of his Life on Earth . In 2000, Attenborough also made a report of various ecological crises   in a three-episode series, State of the Planet.  But he was slow to accept the concept of climate change as a man-made phenomenon. In the early 2000s, Attenborough created some of his most stunning television and film work, including the Blue Planet and Planet Earth series, which largely celebrated the variety and beauty of the planet with some focus on threats to the environment and conservation efforts. But in 2006 , Attenborough released an article  in The Independent saying that he was no longer skeptical about humanity as the source of a changing climate and was convinced by the overwhelming scientific evidence. Shifting Toward Climate Change After the publication of this article, the focus of Attenborough’s work started to shift. In 2006, two films— Are We Changing the Planet?  and Can We Save the Planet? —were broadcast in Britain and explicitly addressed the man-made nature of climate change  and the scientific evidence supporting that conclusion.  “I’ve always believed that few people will protect the natural world if they don’t first love and understand it.” But Attenborough still wanted to show his audiences the wonders of the natural world. “I’ve always believed that few people will protect the natural world if they don’t first love and understand it,” he said at the premiere  of his Netflix series Our Planet in 2020, but Attenborough’s more recent films have emphasized the devastating effects of climate change and the global collective action needed to fight it. Also in 2020, Attenborough released David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet , a film he called his “witness statement” that explained his growing concern for the state of the world from a more personal perspective. The film pits the intense beauty of the world’s ecosystems and their inhabitants against the pain of their struggle for survival in a changing climate. In a Q&A released before the documentary ,  the naturalist described his grief at the sight of a coral reef he revisited after 50 years. The Great Barrier Reef, which he described as “the most astonishing sight in the natural world,” has been bleached to a stark white. “It had been killed,” said Attenborough, “by the rising temperature that we, humanity, have created.”  A seafloor geology and biota mapping survey in Long Island Sound (May 2025) with scientists from the University of Connecticut and the University of New Haven.   Photo: Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, US Geological Survey Oceans Essential for All Life on Earth The new film Ocean with David Attenborough , and the companion book, also called Ocean, recount  how in his 99 years, half of Attenborough’s beloved coral reefs have been lost, and four out of five humpback whales have died. He also saw losses in the blue whale population; it remains an endangered species, but it is slowly recovering, with between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales in the world, according to World Wildlife Fund . Currently, bottom trawling destroys areas of the ocean floor as diverse as a rainforest thousands of times every day. “We have drained the life from our ocean,” Attenborough says in the Ocean film. “Now we are almost out of time.” Ocean’s vibrant images of sea life juxtaposed with this destruction are difficult to watch. In a review , the Associated Press called Ocean  “a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake.” But for all the dire warnings and desperation, the viewer is not left devastated. Attenborough shows his audience exactly how the world’s oceans, “the lifeblood of our home,” can be saved through establishing “no-take zones” where fishing is prohibited. According to the film, if 30% of the global ocean is conserved, the ocean will begin to heal—and rapidly. With this new film, Attenborough asks his viewers to save the sea, not just for the animals who live there but because it could save humanity. “I’m sure that nothing is more important; for if we save the sea, we save our world,” he says. Over his long lifetime, Attenborough has shown the deep beauty of the natural world. With this new film, he asks his devoted audience to learn and change  as he has learned and changed, and in exchange he leaves them with the gift of hope.  *Mal Cole   is a freelance science and nature writer based in Massachusetts.   Sources: Attenborough, David. 2020. A Life on Our Planet : My Witness Statement and Vision for the Future . London, Uk: Ebury Press Uk. Butfield, Colin, Toby Nowlan, and Keith Scholey, dirs. 2025. Ocean with David Attenborough . Hulu. Hughes, Jonnie, dir. 2020. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet . Documentary. Netflix

Company Discovers Microbe with Potential Plastic-Degrading Enzymes By Yasmin Prabhudas* Breaking company co-founders CEO Sukanya Punthambaker (second from left) and chief scientific officer Vaskar Gnyawali (right) with lab colleagues.  ©Breaking The world relies on plastics for endless beneficial uses, but alarming amounts of plastic waste are polluting oceans and waterways, and there’s growing evidence that microplastics are showing up in millions of human bodies. And, because many plastics are built to last, they can take decades or even centuries to disintegrate. The seriousness of the problem has been underscored by the United Nations Environment Programme, which chose to put a focus on ending plastic pollution globally, as the theme for this year's World Environment Day .   In the face of growing concerns about plastic waste, a pressing research question is how to break down these plastics so they are no longer harmful.   Some scientists are carrying out research to see if enzymes could play a key part in doing that job. An example is a Boston-based company called Breaking, which has taken up the mission to find a quick way to break down plastics. It has discovered a microorganism that looks promising—even a “game-changer”—in this quest.   Plastic Waste Exploding Global plastic waste has more than doubled from 156 million tons in 2000 to 353 million tons in 2019, according to the Global Plastics Outlook report , published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2022.   Not surprisingly, the growth in plastic waste stems from the massive escalation in plastic production worldwide—it rose from 234 million tons in 2000 to 460 million tons in 2019.   The OECD estimates that 22 million tons of plastic was released into the environment in 2019 alone. The majority—88%—consisted of macroplastics, arising as a result of poor collection and disposal facilities, while 12% was comprised of microplastics (smaller than 5 millimeters or close to 0.2 inches in diameter) resulting from, for example, tire abrasion or washing textiles.   Meanwhile, the OECD claims some 109 million tons has already accumulated in rivers and 30 million tons in the sea.   The presence of microplastics in the environment poses significant risks to human health and fragile ecosystems. The UN Environment Programme  states that microplastics can enter the human system when inhaled or ingested, and they have been shown to have entered the food chain . They have been found in all parts of the human body, including in artery walls .   Microplastics can slow the growth of phytoplankton, while plastics entering the marine environment can have a devastating effect on animals, birds, and fish by entangling them, lacerating internal tissues, and causing toxic harm. Microplastics are generated by human activities such agriculture and chemicals manufacturing.  © GRID-Arendal / Flickr Microplastics can slow the growth of phytoplankton , while plastics entering the marine environment can have a devastating effect on animals, birds, and fish by entangling them, lacerating internal tissues, and causing toxic harm .   All of these unwanted outcomes are prompting scientists to find ways to break down or neutralize these plastics. Research with enzymes has emerged as a promising new approach.   What Are Enzymes? Enzymes  are usually proteins  (structures composed of amino acids) or ribonucleic acids  (molecules that are made up of nucleotides and are present in most living things). They speed up chemical reactions to carry out different functions in all living beings and are vital parts of any organism.   In humans , enzymes in saliva—amylase and lipase—break down sugars and fats, while protease in the stomach makes sure proteins are digested. Enzymes turn starch into small molecules. Meanwhile, pepsin  breaks down proteins from food in the stomach. They are decomposed further in the small intestines and turned into amino acids and eventually removed from the body following reactions in the liver. In the natural world , enzymes break down and build molecules and accelerate biological processes. The stomachs of herbivorous creatures, for example, use the enzyme cellulase to digest plant cellulose into smaller-molecule nutrients. Scientists are looking into whether enzymes could be used in a similar way to break down plastics.   Scientists are looking into whether enzymes could be used in a similar way to break down plastics. Such a development could prove to be a new way of dealing with the material in addition to those already available, such as through chemical upcycling [see The Earth & I , “ From Bags to Riches—Upcycling Plastic into Viable Products ”].   In fact, in 2016, Japanese researchers discovered  a bacterium ( Ideonella sakaiensis ) that can break down PET plastic through two enzymes. Another species ( Comamonas testosteroni ) was found in 2024 by Northwestern University researchers  also to have an enzyme that can break down PET.   Discovering a New Microorganism and Its Enzymes In Boston, the team at Breaking has discovered that a microorganism, dubbed Microbe X-32, has the potential to speed up the breakdown of plastics, beyond PET, that are hard to degrade.   “We discovered the microorganism, X-32, which is very interesting because it can survive off or grow on plastics that are very commonly known to be hard to degrade,” say Breaking co-founders CEO Sukanya Punthambaker, PhD, and chief scientific officer Vaskar Gnyawali, PhD. “What we are doing right now is understanding the mechanism of this degradation and using biotechnological tools to improve it.”   Plastics that could potentially be broken down are major ones, such as polyolefins, polyesters, and polyamides , which microbes have never been able to degrade without the plastics first being treated. “We have discovered potential plastic-degrading enzymes from our microbe that could break down these tough polymers.” Polyolefins include polypropylene, which is used in disposable tableware.  © iStock /Snezhana Kudryavtseva Polyamides include nylon, which is used in waterproof clothing.  © iStock /Wirestock Gnyawali adds that the enzymes can be engineered to ensure optimal performance. “The enzymes become super enzymes when we engineer them to speed up the process,” he explains. “Unless we engineer them, they are not efficient enough or [cannot] degrade plastics in the timeline we want, such as weeks, days, or even hours.”   “The enzymes become super enzymes when we engineer them to speed up the process. Unless we engineer them, they are not efficient enough or [cannot] degrade plastics in the timeline we want, such as weeks, days, or even hours.”   When the microbe interacts with the polymer chains, the end product is likely to consist of innocuous substances , such as water, carbon dioxide, and biomass.   However, there are limitations. For instance, an individual microbe will not be able to break down all types of plastic.   “There are hundreds of different types of plastics, and each of these plastics requires different degradation processes,” Gnyawali says. But he and the Breaking team are still optimistic—they are discovering new organisms and microorganisms, which they believe could be used to degrade a multitude of plastic types.   Multiple Applications Breaking’s technology has the potential to be applied across a range of settings . For example, microbes and their enzymes could break down plastic contaminants that are assimilated in anaerobic digestion plants. They can also promote biogas and biomass production through degrading plastic efficiently—and treat wastewater that contains microplastics before it goes back into the environment.   They could further break down plastics that have contaminated soil through agriculture, remediate soil tainted by plastics from industrial facilities, or degrade plastics on landfill sites and at treatment plants. In addition, they could be used to break down plastics that are in the ocean through a “collect and degrade” initiative.   The technology could accelerate the breakdown  of items such as rubber boot soles (with a natural decomposition time of 40 to 80 years), fishing line (600 to 650 years), and plastic bottles (450 to 1,000 years). This would help prevent buildup in landfills, oceans, and other ecosystems, ensuring that wildlife and the environment are protected. Garbage (including plastic) at Tarutao National Park in Thailand.  © iStock /Utopia_88 Minimizing Impact But does the process of degrading plastics in this way itself come with a carbon footprint? Using enzymes  is more sustainable, safe, and energy efficient than using chemical catalysts, as no byproducts are produced. This means there is no need for waste to be treated and there is no pollution. Enzymes are biodegradable and nontoxic, and their processes are mainly performed in water.    Using enzymes is more sustainable, safe, and energy efficient than using chemical catalysts, as no by-products are produced.   Gnyawali confirms that the use of enzymatic processes themselves does not present environmental challenges. But the company tries to make sure its research is carried out in a way that reduces carbon dioxide emissions by minimizing waste, which means using “mild processes” through “ green chemistry .”   Paul Anastas  and John Warner , who developed a framework for green chemistry, have defined it as “the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products.”   Warner is on Breaking’s scientific advisory board.   Looking to the Future Punthambaker and Gnyawali believe the potential of enzymes in the fight against plastic pollution is huge.   “It will be a game changer,” Gnyawali says, “if we can get these enzymes to work on the scale that we want, if we can engineer and optimize enzymes to the functions that they can decrease these plastics in the time scale that we want—days or weeks—because naturally they don’t degrade in years, decades, or hundreds of years.” *Yasmin Prabhudas  is a freelance journalist working mainly for nonprofit organizations, labor unions, the education sector, and government agencies.

Can AI Change the World without Harming the Environment? By Rick Laezman* This video  shows the key aspects of Google’s hyperscale data center in The Dalles, Oregon. Artificial intelligence needs such data centers to handle its power requirements.  ©Google Cloud Platform Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm—and is causing a storm of controversy over its gargantuan electricity appetite and its insatiable thirst for fresh water to cool the heat its generation produces. Moreover, observers are alarmed by the pressure AI production is putting on aging grid infrastructure and the increased carbon emissions it can entail. This latest form of “supercomputing” has the potential to transform society and has already seen widespread adoption across many industries. According to a survey conducted by market research firm McKinsey and Company, more than 70% of companies around the world reported using AI in at least one function in 2024. AI is not like typical computing. It refers to the form of digital processing that mimics human intelligence. Tasks include language learning, image recognition, and even solving problems and making decisions, much like people do. Common forms of AI include self-driving cars, virtual assistants like Alexa, and chatbots like ChatGPT. Unfortunately, smarter and faster computing has a downside. The tremendous computational power of AI has an equally outsized need for resources, including electricity and water. The consumption of these resources—and the waste that consumption generates—pose a unique challenge to the evolution and use of this new technology. Magasin Vauban was a huge warehouse that was converted to a water-cooled data center in the Port of Strasbourg, France.  ©Kauffmann Wikimedia   Companies that provide AI computing are taking steps to address this quandary so that the world can benefit from widespread adoption of AI without experiencing equally widespread environmental harm. Why Is AI So Ravenous? There are a number of reasons why AI consumes so much energy and poses such an environmental risk. Those reasons correspond to different stages of its use. The tremendous computational power of AI has an equally outsized need for resources, including electricity and water. First, AI models must be trained before they can perform the tasks that are demanded of them. Teaching the AI models to recognize patterns and queries requires feeding them massive amounts of data. This also consumes great amounts of energy. The energy drain does not stop after AI programs have been trained. The second phase of AI is its implementation, or its use to answer queries and deliver other kinds of results. This also consumes massive amounts of computational power. To put the energy use into perspective, consider how much energy is consumed by a typical Google search. According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA ), a typical Google search might require about 0.3 watt-hours of electricity. In contrast, OpenAI’s ChatGPT uses about 2.9 watt-hours per request. That’s a nearly 10-fold increase. The difference is even more remarkable on a macro scale. The IEA notes that when considering 9 billion searches daily, AI will require almost 10 terawatt-hours of additional electricity in a given year. Hungry Hardware AI’s energy appetite can also be traced to the hardware it requires. The massive computing tasks of AI can be done only with the use of specialized, power-hungry graphics processing units (GPUs) and tensor processing units (TPUs). Typical cold aisle configuration with server rack fronts facing each other and cold air distributed through the raised floor.  ©Robert Harker/Wikimedia Traditional computers use central processing units (CPUs), which are not powerful enough for AI tasks. GPUs and TPUs are significantly more powerful, which makes them suited for the task. However, they also use much more energy than their less powerful cousins. The market research firm Newmark notes  in a 2023 study that GPUs “require up to 15 times the energy of traditional CPUs.” Furthermore, these AI-enabled computers are not solo desktops quietly humming in one’s home office. Instead, they are located in vast data centers filled with stacks of hardware. A 4 million-square-foot hyperscale data center, for example, is equivalent to 60 football fields. These centers have already grown in recent years to accommodate the increasing popularity of the internet and cloud computing. AI will fuel that growth even more. Utilities and transmission grids will be challenged to meet the growing demand from data centers and AI. The market research firm Goldman Sachs Research   forecasts global power demand from data centers to increase 50% by 2027 and by as much as 165% by the end of the decade compared to 2023. That statistic carries even more weight when the resource footprint of that increased demand is taken into consideration. For example, increased demand for electricity requires increased generation. Utilities and transmission grids will be challenged to meet the growing demand from data centers and AI, and to balance that with existing demand from other customers and other uses. Grid delivery systems that are already challenged by aging infrastructure, the addition of new renewable power sources, and the stresses imposed by global climate change will be stressed even more by the demands of AI. The IEA projects   electricity demand from data centers worldwide to more than double in five years to around 945 terawatt-hours in the year 2030. AI will be the most significant driver of this increase, with electricity demand from AI-optimized data centers projected to more than quadruple by 2030. The IEA notes that 945 terawatt-hours is slightly more than the current annual electricity consumption of the entire nation of Japan. AI’s Footprint Generating additional energy to accommodate data centers and AI growth poses challenges beyond the energy grid. The energy industry is a long way from transitioning completely away from fossil fuels. Consequently, a major increase in energy generation also implies a huge increase in carbon emissions. For example, a recent study ,  by the online hosting platform KnownHost, found that ChatGPT, which has over 164 million users a month, produces over 260,930 kilograms (287 tons) of carbon dioxide per month. That is equivalent to the emissions from 260 transcontinental flights between New York City and London. Finally, AI’s environmental footprint can be accounted for in another, less obvious way. All those data centers filled with racks of energy-consuming hyper-processors generate tremendous amounts of heat. For them to function properly, data centers also require vast quantities of cooling water. Water in data centers is used for cooling through various devices, including cooling towers, chillers, heat exchangers, and condensers. It is an essential process that ensures the proper ventilation of the facilities and the operation of the computers that are hosted there. The amount of water used in a data center can vary significantly. According to digital-industry analysis firm Dgtl Infra , large facilities, like Google’s hyperscale data centers, use an average of 550,000 gallons (2.1 million liters) of water daily  over the course of a year. That comes to approximately 200 million gallons (760 million liters) annually. On the other end of the spectrum, according to the same source, smaller data centers in Prince William County, part of the Northern Virginia data center market, have an average daily water usage of about 18,000 gallons (68,100 liters), or 6.57 million gallons (24.9 million liters) annually. Water consumption required by the [data center] industry … will put greater strain on the world’s already fragile freshwater resources. Whether data centers are big or small, the additional water consumption required by the industry as it expands to meet the growing demands of AI will put greater strain on the world’s already fragile freshwater resources. Making AI More Environmentally Friendly Given the tremendous resource consumption and carbon output generated by the world’s increasing use of AI, what can be done to mitigate its impact? Golestan (Sally) Radwan , the chief digital officer of the United Nations Environment Programme, says, “There is still much we don’t know about the environmental impact of AI, but some of the data we do have is concerning.” She adds a note of caution: “We need to make sure the net effect of AI on the planet is positive before we deploy the technology at scale.” With that cautionary warning hanging overhead, how are AI providers taking steps to reduce its footprint? Illustration of a light-water small modular nuclear reactor. (Note the person at the bottom for size comparison.) Such reactors (small compared to conventional nuclear reactors), which are just coming into use, can power data centers while producing no emissions and minimizing cooling-water requirements.  © U.S. Government Accountability Office  / GOA-15-652 The most obvious answer is to increase the use of clean power across the board and to make the energy grid more efficient. Building, energy, and utility managers can utilize the ability of AI to process vast amounts of data to facilitate decisions about generation, transmission, and distribution. Similarly, AI can be used to better analyze weather patterns. AI users can also modify the models they use to limit excess consumption of data and therefore the consumption of power. Many of the largest players in the AI data center industry are taking innovative action to minimize the environmental harm of AI by making the data centers themselves more energy efficient and green. The market analysis company Data Center Frontier notes that many center operators are employing an approach it calls “Bring Your Own Power” (BYOP) , which emphasizes energy independence and flexibility. It entails them managing their own electricity, often through renewable energy integration, microgrids, and other techniques. For example, in Finland , data center providers are harnessing waste heat as a resource to help warm the homes of local residents. European AI provider Nebius Group has employed the technology at its flagship data center in Mäntsälä, Finland. In the 75-megawatt facility, waste heat generated by the stacks of GPUs is captured in water pipes and transferred to a facility that supports the local residential heating system. That heat is then transferred to individual homes. A similar facility is being built in an area outside of Helsinki, Finland. It will help the nation meet its carbon reduction goals by reducing the need for fossil fuel–powered heating, although the contribution is relatively small, at 1% of the total goal. AI and Renewables Speaking to Forbes magazine , Jim Spencer, chief executive of Exus Renewables North America, says, “Renewables are essential for powering AI data centers.” He notes that “a massive increase in the adoption of renewables and utility-scale battery storage in the US” has already helped make the nation’s grid “better equipped” to handle the stresses of rising demand. “Renewables are essential for powering AI data centers.” Many companies are making that commitment. For example, last summer, tech giant Google signed a deal  with renewable energy provider Energix Renewables that will provide electricity and renewable energy credits generated from solar projects to Google. Earlier this year, energy firm AES Corporation announced  it had signed three agreements with tech superpower Microsoft for solar projects in the Midwest totaling a combined 475 megawatts. Still other companies are way ahead of their peers. The data center company Switch , which operates facilities in the US, has powered all of its data centers by renewable power since 2016. The battery-based Tehachapi Energy Storage Project, Tehachapi, California. Such battery energy storage systems (BESS) facilitate the powering of data centers by renewables.  © Sandia National Laboratories / Wikimedia  (Public Domain) On the subject of renewable generation, it is most effective when coupled with battery energy storage systems (BESS). Several leading companies are already reaping the benefits of BESS in their data centers. Meta (formerly Facebook), for example, has partnered with the Salt River Project and Orsted to integrate clean energy from the Eleven Mile Solar Center into its Mesa data center  in Arizona. This project features a 300-megawatt solar farm paired with a four-hour battery energy storage system. AI’s Potential Amid Challenges Like so many new innovations in the technology sphere, AI holds great promise, while also posing significant challenges. AI has vast potential to change society’s relationship with computing. On the other hand, it also has the potential to exacerbate the already vexing problem of resource management in an increasingly delicate environment. AI can help society address these issues, and AI companies can take steps to mitigate the footprint of AI itself. Many companies are already accepting the challenge. *Rick Laezman  is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California, US. He has a passion for energy efficiency and innovation. He has been covering renewable power and other related subjects for more than 10 years.

How the ‘Spirituality in Nature’ Movement Fosters Eco Stewardship By Julie Peterson* People are rediscovering sacred connections with nature. ©rodafranz/iStock The advances of the industrial revolution, the technological revolution, and the information age have led many human beings to live as if the world is a free buffet of resources. At the same time, modern religions have taught that humanity is the highest achievement of a divine creator, distinguishing humans from other beings due to people’s unique capabilities of spiritual connection, free will, and reason.   There are many passages in religious texts that emphasize the special relationship between God and humanity, and most religions focus on responsible interaction with the world and stewardship of Earth. Still, as humankind has made “progress,” exploitation of nature has caused Earth to suffer. Humans Are Part of Nature The suffering of Earth is a sad reality that has prompted some nature-loving spiritualists to rethink humanity’s primary place in the world—and to provide education and guidance on how people can have an “awakening” and reconnect harmlessly with nature. “People mistakenly think that we are the pinnacle of evolution. But evolution is not a pyramid, it’s a tree, it’s dendritic. We are just one leaf, and all the other animals are leaves. We’re not better than them, we’re just different,” says Mike Mullins,   founder of Soul Rewilding , a London-based facilitator of “immersive experiences in sacred nature.” Some factions of religious communities  are addressing environmental challenges and offering guidance for followers to protect the natural world. Examples include Christian churches teaching about stewardship; Islamic leaders emphasizing harmony between humans and nature; Hinduism recognizing the divine in all of nature; Buddhist principles of mindfulness toward the interconnectedness of all life forms; and Indigenous traditions that include humans as part of the natural world. Not everyone follows these factions, and some follow no religion. While estimates vary as to how many people worldwide identify as irreligious (atheist, agnostic, secularist, non-religious spiritualist, or religious skeptic), a 2010 data set from Pew Research Center  estimated the number of religiously unaffiliated people to be just over 16% or 1 in 6. Two years later, Pew released a report describing the sharp increase in the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated, with one-fifth of the US public and a third of adults under 30 as religiously unaffiliated.  “People are questioning some of the traditional beliefs of the Christian church and have a sense of dissatisfaction with how the church is responding to modernity and the climate and biodiversity crisis,” says Mullins, who has a background in Catholic mysticism and psychology. “If you look back at the earlier mystic Celtic Christians, it was much more nature-centric. It was about the sacredness of nature, rather than the hierarchical model.” “I think that what we’re seeing across the world—and not just in Christianity but also in Islam and Judaism—is people struggling with uncertainty experiencing a lot of fear,” says Mullins. Survey – “I expect to be displaced by climate change.” By RCraig09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 The Situation Today People’s sense of what it means to have dominion over all things may have led to the difficult environmental issues everyone now faces. At the same time, a sense of smallness—the idea that individual actions couldn’t possibly cause harm to such a large system—could also be to blame. Regardless, effects of climate change  include increasing severity and frequency of storms, drought, coastal erosion, melting glaciers and icecaps, wildfires, and quickly changing habitats leading to higher risk of extinction to plant and animal species . These things bring flood, fire, and wind perils to humans along with food shortages, health risks, poverty, and displacement. Beyond activism, some feel that there is nothing they can or will do; some are desperate to do something but don’t know how.   “Eco-activism isn’t enough. I realized that the ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis.” “Eco-activism isn’t enough. I realized that the ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis. We are an animal that doesn’t want to be an animal. We somehow see ourselves as separate from nature and yet we’re not,” says Mullins. Fortunately, there are “spirituality in nature” organizations growing to meet the needs of grieving, confused, yet willing environmental activists. These groups continue to take shape around the world as people become increasingly cognizant of the consequences that a warming climate is laying at their feet. Spirituality in nature organizations utilize spiritual practice in and with nature, foster environmental activism toward societal changes, and build a community of people who follow and inspire sustainable practices. It is a panacea for people who desire to reclaim a healthy co-existence with nature, with each other, with their own inner world, and to do something toward climate change mitigation. Reaching A Pivotal Point People have long known about global warming and have been urged to change. The first global treaty to prevent climate change came from the  United Nations in 1992 . Between 1950 and 1990, scientific understanding of global warming increased with consensus that human-caused emissions were the cause. Physicist Gilbert Plass  formulated the Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change in 1956. In 2007, David C. Korten wrote  The Great Turning, describing the   transition from a doomed industrial growth economy to a life-sustaining civilization committed to the recovery of the world. In 2000, Thomas Berry wrote The Great Work, urging people to move from being a disruptive force on the Earth to a benign presence. Humanity’s knowledge of the phenomenon began to accumulate about 200 years ago. According to NASA , mathematician Joseph Fourier  calculated in 1824 that a planet the size of Earth, at the same distance from the Sun, “ought to be much colder.” By the 1860s, physicist  John Tyndall  recognized that “Earth’s natural greenhouse effect,” plus changes in atmospheric composition, might result in “climatic variations.” Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius , in an 1896 paper, wrote that shifts in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could “substantially alter” Earth’s surface temperature.  In summary, humans have had clues since 1824, evidence since the 1970s, and directives since 1994. Moving back to a healthy relationship with nature is not a new idea. In summary, humans have had clues since 1824, evidence since the 1970s, and directives since 1994. Moving back to a healthy relationship with nature is not a new idea; however, people are now at a pivotal point to act . Spiritual Awakening Scholars  have argued that a spiritual awakening is essential to addressing ecological crises, suggesting that recognizing the sacredness of the Earth can inspire sustainable practices. Spirituality-in-nature organizations are blazing various paths toward this awakening.  Different terms exist that are related to increasing mindfulness  and awakening spiritually to mitigate environmental issues: spiritual ecology, ecological mindfulness, contemplative environmental practice, spirituality in nature, and more. Each takes a slightly different approach to a similar goal: teaching and inspiring people to have a deep connection with all of Earth in such a way that it fosters increased personal well-being and pro-environmental action. A video  on eco-spirituality: “What if our connection with nature could change the world?” Spiritual Groups Connecting with and Protecting Nature Myriad organizations invite people of all faiths to join in actions to heal the Earth. One Earth Sangha  describes its mission as fostering “transformative” responses to environmental crises “based on the insights and practices of the Buddhist tradition.” The organization’s Virtual EcoDharma Network offers online classes, articles, calls to action, and retreats to inspire its members to end what it calls “ecological violence.” Its EcoSattva Training series is designed to take participants on a “a journey to cultivate wisdom, connection, and compassionate action.” Victoria Loorz is a prominent figure in the nature spirituality movement, known for founding the Wild Church Network . The network supports communities that gather in natural settings to engage in spiritual practices, fostering a deep connection with the Earth. Loorz emphasizes that spirituality and nature are inseparable, advocating for a return to sacred earth practices. On their website, it says, “Wild churches are ecumenical and spiritual-but-not-religious and some are connected with existing religious institutions. There are no dogmas to recite, rules to follow, or step-by-step instructions. Rather, wild churches are organic organisms, with a life and intelligence of their own.” There are currently Wild Churches across North America. Church of the Wild , by Loorz, is a guide for anyone who feels “the call from Spirit and Earth herself to create a spiritual community that reconnects us to the rest of the alive and sacred world.” Beth Norcross founded the Center for Spirituality in Nature  in Virginia to offer people spiritual guidance for developing loving relationships with nature and recently released her latest book, Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees  (with Leah Rampy). The Center offers programs, classes, webinars, and online meditation sessions, and there are now more than 40 Spirituality in Nature Groups (SING) across the United States. Groups hold local events, using mindfulness, meditation, attentiveness, and exploration to deepen their connection with the natural world to heal themselves and renew the broken human relationship with the Earth. The Gaia Foundation  is an international organization with 35 years’ experience helping communities and movements around the world revive and enhance “bio-cultural diversity,” a state of healthy ecosystems and strong community self-governance. The organization follows a vision of “amplifying the voices of Earth defenders, restoring a respectful relationship with our Mother Earth, and upholding Indigenous wisdom.” Programs include seed saving, activism against mining, protecting sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, and protecting sacred natural sites from Africa to the Amazon. Shaman praying in the Amazon rainforest. “Spirituality in nature” groups typically honor Indigenous wisdom traditions. ©alejomiranda/ iStock Soul Rewilding  is a not-for-profit collective based in London, reaching out to people who are feeling overwhelmed by the ecological crisis but want to move away from feeling uncertain, anxious, and disconnected from nature. Mullins has brought in additional facilitators to lead immersive experiences in nature designed to help people of all faiths (or no faith) reconnect to the sacredness of nature in beautiful natural settings. “We’ve been taught to relate to nature as an object, as out there, as inanimate, as soul-less, as just a resource to be consumed.” “We’ve been taught to relate to nature as an object, as out there, as inanimate, as soul-less, as just a resource to be consumed. I try to get participants to relate to the natural world in a different way, a more participatory, animistic way that sees all of nature as alive and in relationship with everything else, and us,” says Mullins. On tree walks, for example, he talks about the biology of the trees encountered, the ancient English folklore stories around them, and their spirituality. He helps people calm their minds, tune into their senses, wander in nature, and listen to their intuition to find a tree that they feel connected to. They take their opportunities, dilemmas, and questions to trees they're drawn to, engaging in a dialogue as their ancient ancestors did. “People are very moved by this,” he says. Mullins runs three-day retreats in a friary set in Southern England in the beauty of the county of Dorset—Thomas Hardy country. “One purpose is to immerse people in the English countryside— trees, plants, animals—to re-experience the sacredness of nature, to question our modern way of seeing nature. The other aim is to create a collective, a social support group,” says Mullins. They cook together, eat together, get up at 4 a.m. to sit in silence in the wood and listen to the beauty of the dawn chorus, and share stories around a campfire about the sacredness and awe of nature and moving personal encounters with animals in nature. “We allow people to express their grief at what’s happening in the world and give them a process to use to deal with nature loss,” explains Mullins. The retreats also provide an opportunity to challenge beliefs. “We’re listening to the wrong narrative,” says Mullins. “If you look at the 4.5-billion-year life of the Earth as a 24-hour period, humans appear in the last two seconds. So, how could we be the sole purpose of the divine, some higher power? I’d rather be one member of a big family of all beings that are all important to the divine. All creatures, all beings, trees…are important to God. The divine and nature are not separate. The divine is in all things. If you read the mystics, they have been saying this for thousands of years.” Mullins believes that people of all faiths can agree on the importance and beauty of the sacredness of nature. It’s a way to bring people together and find commonality. Becoming Spiritual in Nature Going on a retreat helps but it's not essential to develop a sense of spiritual connection to nature.   Mullins recommends having a sit spot, somewhere one goes regularly to be with nature. “That’s really powerful because you notice change over time,” says Mullins. Other ideas can be found in the author’s article: “ How to Awaken the Human Bond with Nature .” The Future People are reaching toward ancient and new forms of spirituality about how nature influences well-being and how humanity must care for the planet. But the future also requires a change in the socioeconomic systems which people have grown accustomed to, but that are not working. “We need to become more content with having just enough. Agriculture needs to be regenerative instead of based on an extractive model, which is all about herbicides and pesticides,” says Mullins. “How can we revitalize faith so that it’s less focused on our salvation but on the whole of creation? Let’s focus on others. The most oppressed, the most voiceless of all is the Earth.” *Julie Peterson   writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from her small farm in Wisconsin. She recommends for further reading Active Hope  by Joanna Macy, Braiding Sweetgrass  by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sacred Nature  by Karen Armstrong, The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, and Spiritual Ecology  by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee.

By Gordon Cairns* A therapist helping an autistic boy.  ©iStock/EyeEm Mobile GmBH When 89-year-old retired banker Donald Triplett died quietly at his home in Forest, Mississippi, in 2023, his passing made headlines for one fact alone: He was the first person ever diagnosed with autism. He was only 10 years old when child psychologist Leo Kanner used the term to describe young Donald’s  range of behaviors, which included an excellent memory, an inability to relate to others, and obsessively repetitive actions. Within the span of Triplett’s life, worldwide diagnosis of autism increased dramatically. As of 2021, an estimated 62 million others globally have been diagnosed as being autistic, according to the most recent study  by The Lancet , published this year. The rise in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) hasn’t been gradual: Global prevalence has actually doubled since the journal’s previous study  published in 2018, in which over 31 million people were described as being on the autism spectrum. An estimated 62 million others have been diagnosed as of 2021, according to the most recent study by The Lancet, published this year. This worldwide increase is mirrored in the US. In a typical class of third-graders, it is statistically likely that one child will have an autism diagnosis, as an estimated 32 out of every 1,000 eight-year-olds were autistic in 2022. This is nearly five times the rate in 2000, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Does this dramatic rise mean aspects of the modern world is causing children to be born with autism? Or does it point to improved awareness and advances in diagnostic practices in identifying the condition? Autism is broadly characterized as affected individuals  lacking in empathy, difficulty interpreting nonverbal communication signals, or struggling to develop, keep, or understand relationships. Improved Awareness and Diagnosis of Autism The answer is a bit of both. Alison Singer, co-founder and president of the Autism Science Foundation, believes the startling increase is due to a wide range of factors. In a recent blog post for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases , she listed a number of causes for the rise, including an increased general awareness of autism coupled with a broader definition of autism introduced just over a decade ago. There is also improved access to services that can help identify autism, and these services have better screening tools and processes available to them. Apart from making it easier to identify, Singer also included other elements such as parents having children at a later age and improved survival rates for preterm babies. Expanding Genetic Factors of Autism in the Family However, the main determining factor of autism has remained the same—one’s genes. The scope of associated genes was updated in a Nature study  published in December 2024 by researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. In the study, the researchers indicated they found 92 potential variants in 73 known neurodevelopmental disorder genes and 158 potential variants in 120 autism candidate genes. This was based on 222 people with autism from 195 families. “Research suggests that there may be up to 1,000 genes associated with ASD susceptibility, and the genetic variants identified to date represent just a fraction of the disease burden.” “Research suggests that there may be up to 1,000 genes associated with ASD susceptibility, and the genetic variants identified to date represent just a fraction of the disease burden,” said senior author associate professor Maria Chahrour, PhD, in UT Southwestern Medical Center’s press release . The sister on the right is autistic. A Mommy Story (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5) Autism also has an estimated heritability of 70% to 90% , causing it to run in the family. The National Fragile X Foundation , a nonprofit that supports families living with Fragile X syndrome, states that “an identifiable single-gene condition may account for 15% to 20% of all cases of autism” and recommends genetic testing that includes Fragile X syndrome. In addition, autism is estimated to be about 10 times more prevalent in children with an autistic sibling. A 2024 study  by researchers at the University of California Davis found that 20.2% of siblings of children with autism developed autism themselves, based on 1,605 infants with an older autistic sibling. This probability increased to 37%  for a child with multiple siblings with autism. Environmental Risk Factors for Autism But genetics doesn’t explain all the causes of autism. Scientists have also been looking at the environment to see if there is a connection between environmental pollution and autism. Someone working in this field is Heather Volk , associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, who investigates how interactions between environmental factors, such as air pollution, and genetic factors, like mutations, lead to ASD in children. One investigation led by Volk in 2011 found children born of mothers living less than 1,014 feet from a freeway  during their third trimester of pregnancy were twice as likely to develop ASD. Speaking on a webinar in 2023 released by Spark , a US-based organization that researches autism, she said, “Broadly, what we can see is that neurodevelopment is impacted by air pollution exposure that happens during the prenatal period in early life.” In 2011, Volk found that autism was linked with pregnant mothers living near a highway.   ©Altaf Shah She has examined 23 papers published within the last 10 years that looked at the relationship between air quality and autism and concludes: “Outdoor air quality in the neighborhood based on an individual’s address often around the time of birth does seem to be associated with autism.” She adds that higher levels of pollution have an even more detrimental effect. “Among kids with autism,” she explains, “children who live in more polluted areas, particularly in their first year of life, are more likely to have more problems in daily life, communication in particular, in overall functioning as well as in their daily living skills.” Prenatal Health and Autism Volk has also examined five studies on how the diet of the expectant mother might work to reduce the impact of the environment on the possibility of a child developing autism. “For example,” she says, “perhaps moms who take a prenatal vitamin and moms who might live in an area where they might be exposed to a higher level of air pollution or a higher level of pesticides, those two factors might work against each other.” “Maybe, if you take your prenatal vitamin even if you live in an area of poor air quality, that could help protect your child subsequently in your pregnancy. So much research needs to be done here.” “Maybe, if you take your prenatal vitamin even if you live in an area of poor air quality, that could help protect your child subsequently in your pregnancy. So much research needs to be done here.” Legumes can be helpful for improving zinc intake for pregnant mothers.  Photo: Public  Domain A review published in 2024  of a number of studies highlights potential links between autism and the health of the pregnant mother, as well as environmental conditions. A low intake of zinc, magnesium, and selenium during pregnancy was found to be linked with increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. One study in the United States and another in Norway reported a nearly 40% decline in autism risk associated with prenatal vitamin use, while the US study also found a significant decrease in ASD tendency with a daily folic acid intake. On the other hand, a Danish study could not find any association between an expectant mother taking these supplements and a reduced risk for their child. Therapy for Autism through Nature Just as the urban environment can impact the probability of a child being born with autism, so too can the natural environment provide support for parents with autistic children, both for the young person themselves and adults who are on the spectrum. While there is little research into this area, a report from Iran found family-centered nature therapy  was effective in improving the parents’ relationship with their children, including reducing conflicts. The offspring showed lower dependence on their parents after receiving the treatment. Another small-scale study  found participants with autism experiencing considerable positive psychological outcomes from engaging in outdoor exercise. For families dealing with autism, consult support groups in one’s community, educational materials, and healthcare providers for more information and recommendations. *Gordon Cairns  is a freelance journalist and teacher of English at the Forest Schools, based in Scotland. For almost two decades, he has been taking groups of teenagers with autism out into the woods, where they build fires and dens, swing in hammocks, and set up camp. Anecdotally, the young people report sleeping better the following night and feeling calmer after spending time in nature and away from restricting walls, artificial lighting and electronic hums.

Rethink Food’s No-Cost Meals Combat Poor Health and Food Insecurity Rethink Food’s registered dietitian trains a local meal provider to help with the organization's new medically tailored meals (MTM) program.  ©Rethink Food Rethink Food, a chef-led  nonprofit, is on a mission to transform the intersection of healthcare and nutrition with the launch of its medically tailored meals (MTM) program.   Through partnerships with restaurants, community organizations, and food donors, Rethink Food delivers meals where they’re needed most—revolutionizing not only how communities are fed, but how food can serve as a form of care.   Rooted in the “Food is Medicine” approach, this program delivers nutritious, home-delivered meals crafted by registered dietitians to meet the specific needs of individuals managing chronic illnesses. By integrating nutrition with medical care, the MTM program aims to improve health outcomes, enhance quality of life, and reduce avoidable hospital visits. Rethink Food’s innovative MTM program, launched in April 2025, offers no-cost, medically tailored meal delivery to eligible Medicaid recipients in New York City, reinforcing the organization’s core belief that everyone deserves access to nutritious food.   "At Rethink Food, we believe nutrition is not a privilege, it’s a prescription for better health. Through our Medically Tailored Meals Program, we are turning food into a tool for healing, dignity, and equity. This isn’t just about meals—it’s about changing the way we care for one another,” says Jordan Correa, Chief Program Officer at Rethink Food.   Who Can Participate in this Program? To qualify for this meal delivery program, individuals must meet certain eligibility criteria, primarily through their enrollment in Medicaid. Specifically, the program targets individuals who are:   Frequent users of emergency or hospital services Enrolled in a New York State Health Home with chronic conditions, such as HIV and diabetes, serious mental illness, or multiple chronic illnesses Managing substance use disorders or developmental disabilities Pregnant or recently postpartum Recently released from incarceration with a chronic condition High-risk children or youth, including those in foster or kinship care   How the Program Works The MTM program engages eligible Medicaid members with chronic health conditions to identify the most appropriate meal plan for their medical needs. Participants receive fully prepared meals designed by their Registered Dietitian Nutritionist to support the management of their health conditions. Each meal plan is customized based on the individual’s dietary preferences, lifestyle, and delivery schedule—offering convenient access to options such as vegetarian, low-sodium, diabetic-friendly, and heart-healthy meals. All meals are 100% halal, ensuring inclusive access for a wider range of dietary and cultural needs. Each eligible member receives a weekly meal box that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Meal plans are customizable, with the following options: 3-Day Box: 9 meals per week – ideal for partial support 5-Day Box: 15 meals per week – covers most of the week 7-Day Box: 21 meals per week – provides full coverage     For example, breakfast options may include asparagus frittata with roasted potatoes and a banana; zucchini muffins with yogurt, string cheese, and an orange; turkey bacon frittata with an apple; or pumpkin quiche with a quinoa crust and multigrain bread. Lunch selections might feature baked Cajun tilapia with green beans and roasted sweet potato, or beef and lentil chili with asparagus and a whole wheat roll. Dinner options could include baked Parmesan chicken with eggplant caponata and sautéed spinach, or beef fajitas with roasted broccoli and white rice. By providing meals that enhance diet quality, reduce hospital visits, and lower healthcare costs, Rethink Food is tackling several public health and nutrition challenges through a single service. Additionally, these meals are crafted to support local businesses via partnerships with food providers, while promoting sustainability and community engagement.   The goal is to enable recipients to focus on their recovery without worrying about food insecurity.   Public-Private Partnerships Funded by the New York State 1115 Waiver , Rethink Food’s MTM program connects healthcare and social services to address the social drivers of health, starting with food insecurity. The waiver can generate savings through various healthcare reforms, which can be reinvested into the system. In partnership with leading social care networks—including  Public Health Solutions , HEALI , and SOMOS Community Care— Rethink Food ensures that its MTM meals reach those who need them most, where they are. These collaborations strengthen referral pathways, expand access, and make nutrition a powerful tool for healing.   Learn More  For more information about eligibility and how to apply for the Medically Tailored Meals program, visit Rethink Food’s website .

Including Marshes, Swamps, Lakes, and Peatlands According to Report Wetlands, such as swamps, marshes, and bogs , are essential habitats for fish and wildlife, supply nutrient-rich materials to support the food web, and store carbon from the atmosphere. However, wetlands are shrinking, according to the Global Wetland Outlook 2025 . Below are key findings from the report, which was presented at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (or COP15 ) that took place on July 23–31, 2025. There are an estimated 1,425.6 million hectares of wetlands remaining globally , and they provide benefits estimated from $7.98 trillion to $39.01 trillion every year. These benefits include providing food for people, removing water pollutants, protecting local communities from natural disasters, and storing carbon. Of the above area, peatlands occupy the highest area—500 million hectares (or 35%)—followed by inland marshes and swamps (32%) and lakes (19%). Since 1970, the overall average rate of wetland loss has been 0.52% per year. The rate ranges from 0.01% to 1.80% per year, depending on the wetland type. Total wetland loss is about 411.5 million hectares, of which inland marshes and swamps faced the highest loss of 177 million hectares (or 43%). Lakes and peatlands accounted for 30% and 19% of the total loss, respectively. Sources: Global Wetland Outlook 2025 Report National Geographic – Wetlands

Swedish-British Billionaire Builds Record of Rainforest Conservation By Mark Smith* Johan Eliasch (second from left) at a tree planting with King Charles III. ©Photographer London He buys up whole swaths of rainforest to save them from destruction. He partners with legendary Hollywood actors to provide green energy for Indian schools. He campaigns to make the Olympic Games more environmentally friendly. Johan Eliasch is a man who gets things done. Having amassed a fortune in the world of business, the Swedish-British billionaire has also become a formidable force in the world of conservation. Born in Sweden in 1962, Eliasch achieved success as the CEO and chairman of sporting goods giant HEAD, with a net worth estimated to be in the region of £4 billion ($5.3 billion), according to the UK’s Sunday Times Rich List. While some wealthy people spend their money on yachts and cars, Eliasch spent a considerable amount of his fortune on 400,000 acres of endangered Brazilian rainforest to save it from logging and deforestation in 2005. He is also the cofounder of Cool Earth, a charity that invests in Indigenous communities. Cool Earth has given cash to 75 communities in places like Peru, the Congo, and Papua New Guinea to enable them to resist the financial overtures of loggers who want to buy their forests. The tribal village of Urakuza in the Peruvian Amazon receives support from Cool Earth. ©Cool Earth According to the charity, as of 2024, a total of 99% of the rainforests where Cool Earth operates were still intact, and it had helped to protect over 2.1 million acres of rainforest and 380 million trees. These days, it can often be de rigueur for those in high-profile roles to profess a love of conservation, but Eliasch’s is unquestionably long-standing. Indeed, during his childhood in Sweden, he realized the world around him was changing, and that he had to try and do something about it. In an exclusive interview, he told The Earth & I: “As a boy growing up in Stockholm, I would ski from late October to April. As the season grew steadily shorter, I became curious about the impact of climate change on weather patterns and the global policy response to that. Through reading a lot of science and speaking to many people in the climate space, the urgency of the challenge became clear.” “As a boy growing up in Stockholm, I would ski from late October to April. As the season grew steadily shorter, I became curious about the impact of climate change.” Following his success in business and conservation projects, his expertise led him to advise world leaders on climate-related issues. In 2007, the UK government asked him to conduct a review on the role of deforestation in climate change. The resulting Eliasch Review subsequently informed the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation framework as part of the international climate change convention. His work has also seen him join forces with famed actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative—of which Eliasch is an advisory board member—focuses on supporting data-led projects all over the world, from financing a photovoltaic system on the roof of an Indian school to providing energy-efficient cooking stoves in Uganda. Eliasch said his approach has always been about “practicality,” as he “prefers workshops to talking shops.” “I was keen to see where I could make the most impact, and for me that has primarily meant involvement in rainforest conservation. Trees are quite simply the lungs of the Earth, vital to biodiversity and our global ecosystem. Hence, my involvement in rainforest preservation over the past 20 years.” Combining Sport and the Environment Eliasch is also a major figure in the sporting world. Since 2021, he has served as the president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a council member of the Association of International Winter Olympic Federations, and a board member of the British Olympic Association. FIS President and avid sportsman Johan Eliasch. ©Johan Eliasch Since becoming FIS President, he has been an advocate of the Race to Zero campaign, led by Climate Champions. This project is sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc., which commits to halving FIS emissions by 2030. He also oversees initiatives like smarter venue design, athlete travel-emissions tracking, and event-level offsets through reforestation programs like the FIS Rainforest Initiative. “As a member of the IOC’s Sustainability and Legacy Commission, we are working to ensure that future Olympic and Paralympic Games are as environmentally friendly as possible,” he said. “As a member of the IOC’s legacy and sustainability committee, we are working to ensure that future Olympic and Paralympic Games are as environmentally friendly as possible.” “For example, I have been advocating for the rotation of the Olympic Winter Games between permanent venues, which would mean a significant reduction in construction emissions and less waste overall.” This year also saw him enter the race for president of the IOC, positioning himself as the climate-conscious candidate. Although he did not win, the bid was seen as a signal that environmental sustainability is now a major issue in top-level sport. Criticisms But there has been some criticism leveled at Cool Earth’s approach in the past, with claims of “green colonialism”—an assertion he rejects. “The charge makes little sense in the context of rainforest preservation,” he said. “Traditional colonialism is about ownership and exploitation; conserving rainforest is about supporting Indigenous people and preserving vital global resources for us all. Indeed, the Cool Earth strategy is to ensure Indigenous people are at the center of everything it does. They make the decisions, they decide what they need and how problems can be solved. They are, after all, the guardians of the forest and they know how to protect it far better than ‘outsiders’ do.” Indigenous tribes like the Ashaninka of Peru are conservation experts. Cool Earth trusts them with unconditional cash donations. ©Cool Earth In a similar vein, when the ultrawealthy set out to do good it can be met with cynicism—perhaps sometimes justifiably. The practice of “greenwashing” has gained notoriety in recent years, where wealthy people or companies promote what appears to be a pro-environment project to get good PR. But as with most things, Eliasch’s attitude to this is a practical one. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I agree sometimes there may be ulterior motives. But if people are trying to do good—regardless of their wealth—I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt.” “I would look at the data, look at the facts, look at the scientific or humanitarian arguments being made for the ‘good work,’ and then decide if it is worthy of support.” He added, “Ultimately, the ‘greenwashing’ charge can only be applied if grandstanding is happening with no discernible impact being made. I would look at the data, look at the facts, look at the scientific or humanitarian arguments being made for the ‘good work,’ and then decide if it is worthy of support.” ‘Highly Concerning’ Future But what does the future hold compared to when Eliasch first took up the fight for conservation? According to him, it’s not in a good place. “The threats are clearly getting worse,” he said. “It’s simple. Our planet is not designed to support 8 billion people living the way we do. Climate change is leading to extreme weather conditions, which in turn is placing pressure on food and water supply, which in turn is driving migration and conflict. The picture is highly concerning. The threats come from a lack of unified global action, based on the science.” Despite this, he said he remains optimistic and feels Net Zero is an attainable goal in the next 30 years. “We have the capability in terms of scientific and technological knowledge to overcome our challenges,” he said. “Mankind has achieved extraordinary things before, and I am sure we will again.” *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.