Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i National Geographic Magazine - UK

THE SAYING IS SO WELL KNOWN that most of us can finish the sentence: Those who cannot remember the past … … are condemned to repeat it. It’s a fitting reminder this month as we mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. For the occasion, we’ve created the first ever “flip” issue of National Geographic—essentially two magazines in one—to revisit environmental milestones of the past half century and to look ahead at the world our descendants will inhabit in 2070, on Earth Day’s 100th anniversary. Two scenarios emerge. On the magazine cover just before this page, there’s a verdant Earth. Welcome to the optimistic view of writer Emma Marris, who sees a world that is changed—we cannot undo some damage we have done—but one in which technologies will be harnessed…

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Move over, Edison Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the bulbs of the future (and the present). They can burn 25 times longer than incandescent lighting yet use up to 80 percent less electricity. By 2035, LEDs are expected to cut U.S. energy consumption from lighting by more than three-fourths.  —DANIEL STONE THE APPARATUS ABOVE derives energy from the rise and fall of ocean waves and converts it into electricity. The technology, from the Swedish company Eco Wave Power, utilizes a sophisticated system of floats and hydraulic pistons. When a wave passes through the machine, the floats on the device move up and down, compressing and decompressing the pistons. The pressure from the pumping pistons powers a hydraulic motor; its mechanical energy…

U.S. ELECTRICITY GENERATION BY MAJOR ENERGY SOURCE, 1950–2050 in billions of kilowatt-hours Wind energy currently makes up a larger part of renewables than solar, but not for long. Solar is projected to triple its share by 2050 to become the leading renewable. SHARE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, BY SOURCE ELECTRIC CHARGING STATIONS IN THE U.S. In the 1990s, electric charging stations were few and far between. They’ve taken off over the past decade; tens of thousands are now spread across the country. But many of them charge cars slowly. *NO DATA FOR ALASKA AND HAWAII SOURCES: VAISALA; U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (EIA); OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY…

NUCLEAR SETBACK A tourist in Chernobyl, Ukraine, dons a gas mask to snap a selfie near the containment shell surrounding the nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986. Radiation—revealed in this composite image by a unique gamma camera—still emanates from contaminated materials, but visiting for brief periods is safe. Chernobyl helped dim prospects for nuclear power, a carbon-free energy source. PLASTIC THREAT Indo-Pacific sergeants swim around a plastic bag near Taiwan. An estimated 8.8 million tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year, killing millions of marine animals. BIGGER BLAZES Men dodge embers as they try to save a house in Ventura, California, during the 2017 Thomas fire. Burning a thousand structures and 280,000 acres, the fire was the state’s largest—but only briefly. In California and beyond, a warmer, drier…

EVERY YEAR, AND after almost every rain, the headline is familiar. Venice is flooding and sinking at the same time, which leads to the same wet result: more water filling the 1,200-year-old city’s streets at greater frequency for longer periods. Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro says the city “will shine again”—but can the island possibly survive a warming world? The sea level in Venice’s lagoon is four inches higher than it was 50 years ago. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects that so-called hundred-year floods will occur every six years by 2050 —and every five months by 2100. One such flood last November left 70 percent of the city submerged. The more urgent priority may be saving Venice’s treasures and artifacts. After November’s flood, art experts and university students…

LIGHT POLLUTION is now among the most chronic environmental perturbations on Earth. In 2016 scientists estimated that 99 percent of the continental United States and Europe suffer some amount of light pollution. Their study found that a third of humankind—including nearly 80 percent of North Americans—cannot see the Milky Way. And data from the Suomi NPP satellite suggest that worldwide, light pollution increased by roughly 2 percent a year from 2012 to 2016. All lights, but especially LEDs, are to blame. Because they’re much more energy-efficient than incan-descent and CFL bulbs, LED lights are left on for longer periods, casting cheap light in all directions. Lack of darkness can affect any animal whose biology depends on circadian rhythms—including us, says Amanda Gormley of the International Dark Sky Association. “We lose…

A STRETCH OF THE CHUKCHI SEA, BETWEEN SIBERIA AND ALASKA, IN SUMMER. THE AVERAGE EXTENT OF THE SEA’S ICE IN 2019 WAS THE LOWEST SINCE SATELLITES BEGAN TRACKING IT IN 1978. WITHOUT ICE, COASTAL VILLAGERS CAN’T HUNT MANY OF THE ANIMALS THEY’VE RELIED ON FOR GENERATIONS. AS COAL MINES SPREAD LIKE CRACKS across Australia’s Hunter Valley, the phone in Glenn Albrecht’s office began to ring. It was the early 2000s, and Albrecht, an environmental studies professor, was interested in the emotional impacts of mining on local communities. For generations, the region had been known for its bucolic alfalfa fields, horse farms, and vineyards. Coal mining had long been a part of the economy, but it had suddenly grown as increasing global demand and new extraction technologies prompted a wave of new…

SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 1888, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HAS BEEN WORKING TO CONSERVE THE PLANET AND ITS INHABITANTS. THIS MONTH, ALONG WITH THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY (THE MAJORITY OWNER OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS), WE’RE CELEBRATING EARTH DAY’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING AND EVENTS, AS WELL AS SPECIAL PROGRAMMING ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, ABC, AND DISNEY+. CALL TO ACTION #NatGeoSaveTogether Help protect wildlife Join National Geographic and Disney as we focus on saving 50 of the planet’s at-risk species. Find out how you can help, beginning April 1 at national-geographic.com. LIVE TV SPECIAL Born Wild and ready to explore How better to appreciate Mother Earth than by meeting her off-spring? A live celebration of animal babies, Born Wild: Earth Day Live airs April 22 at 8/7c on National Geographic and Nat Geo…

IN THE 1980S the number of giant pandas in China hovered around 1,100. Now, after decades of focused conservation, giant pandas have been crossed off the endangered list. Habitat preservation, anti-poaching efforts, and advances in captive-breeding programs can offer a lifeline to the most endangered members of the biosphere. In 2019 a total of 10 creatures showed improved status on the list of threatened species produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Many more need help, including these animals that conservationists are trying to pull back from the brink. —NINA STROCHLIC CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Cotton-top tamarin This tiny, long-haired monkey lives only in the tropical forests of Colombia, where agriculture and urban growth have led to a significant population drop in the past few decades. Proyecto Titi strives to…

In Appalachian Ohio many streams have been polluted with iron and other minerals in runoff draining from abandoned coal mines. Ridding the waterways of metals is expensive, but two Ohio University professors have found a way to help the process pay for itself. Guy Riefler, an environmental engineer, extracts iron from the polluted water. When the resulting material is fired at different temperatures by art professor John Sabraw, it changes color—and can be used in pigments (below) that Sabraw and other artists employ in their work.…

ON A WEATHERED PROMENADE at the edge of the Pacific, near the photo booths and the pretzel stand and a man molding busts of tourists out of clay, spins a Ferris wheel that draws electricity from the sun. A few hundred feet away, a sign marks the end of old Route 66. The Santa Monica Pier, where green energy meets automotive history, seemed like the perfect spot to kick off a cross-country road trip in electric cars. Route 66, one of America’s first all-weather highways, began in Chicago. From the 1930s until it was rendered obsolete by interstates, it funneled millions of Midwestern migrants past motor lodges and trinket shops toward the sparkling shores of California. It helped reshape that state from a rural paradise to a series of sprawling cities.…

Crabs release carbon Salt marshes store millions of tons of carbon, but burrowing fiddler crabs may be letting it out. Their tunnels create holes in soil that expose carbon-releasing organic matter in Brazil, Tanzania, and China. Researchers say other burrowing animals, like clams and shrimp, may be doing similar damage. More than 10,000 microplastic particles per liter of Arctic sea ice Plastics have colonized even Earth’s pristine environments. Researchers found that polar waters and ice have the highest concentrations of ocean-based microplastics on the planet. Plastic waste is expected to quadruple in the 30 years.…

This is a landscape that was never meant for human eyes. The light of the sun will never reach it. And yet the materials extracted here—destined to fertilize immense farms in the United States and elsewhere—are an essential ingredient in the production of food that sustains the world’s booming population. To arrive at this place—a 6,000-mile network of tunnels in utter uninhabitable darkness—my crew and I descended in an elevator large enough for some 40 miners and their equipment. It was foggy; the damp air would soon chill us to the bone. At the bottom of the shaft, we boarded trucks, the only illumination coming from the vehicles’ headlights and our headlamps. Although I’d worked in a gold mine before I became a photographer, this experience was unsettling. The tunnels…

TOMORROW’S CLIMATE, TODAY Earth has warmed about one degree Celsius (1.8°F) since the industrial revolution. In a worst-case scenario in which our carbon emissions continue to rise, the warming could exceed three degrees Celsius (5.4°F) by 2070. That global average conceals dramatic local increases in extreme heat, precipitation, and drought. What climate might confront the world’s cities in 2070? For some, it could be unlike any found on Earth today. The nonprofit National Geographic Society, working to conserve Earth’s resources, helped fund this project. PHOENIX, UNITED STATES, WILL HAVE A CLIMATE LIKE TODAY’S BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN. HEAT WILL GET DEADLY By 2070, the climate in Phoenix, Arizona, already burning hot, will feel like today’s Chowki Jamali in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, a high-desert region hit hard by drought and sky-high temperatures. Farmers…

CONSERVATION WITH CARE An orphaned elephant is comforted by a wildlife keeper at Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, the first community-owned elephant sanctuary in Africa. Reteti has successfully integrated six orphans into wild herds. NEW ENERGY In southern France, 35 countries are building ITER, a thermonuclear experimental reactor, in an effort to harness nuclear fusion—the process that powers stars and potentially is an almost limitless source of carbon-free energy. ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE A diver off Noli, Italy, harvests tomatoes from Nemo’s Garden, an experimental underwater farm where plants grow without soil or pesticides—a possible boon for places with-out arable land. LIVING WITH WATER Decades of pollution control have made the water so clean in the industrial harbor of Aarhus, Denmark, that people now swim in seawater pools. A new floating complex makes…

IN THE HOME Become an eco-friendly pet owner: Be careful how you use flea and tick products containing pesticides. Avoid cat litter made of materials obtained by strip-mining. Minimize food waste: Use a digital meal planner to calculate ingredients and portions so virtually everything you buy and cook gets eaten. Learn how to store foods to prolong their usability. Keep food scraps and waste out of landfills by composting. Be sure to properly insulate your home and replace old, drafty windows with energy-efficient ones. AT THE STORE Green your coffee habit. Get a reusable filter pod for your single-use coffee machine—and fill it with certified “bird friendly” coffee grown in a habitat that also nurtures birds. Be choosy when buying home tissue. Know which products are made of virgin wood…

LET ME DATE MYSELF right away by saying that I attended a demonstration on the first Earth Day, in 1970. The mood, as I recall it, was both joyous and solemn. Joyous because we were collectively celebrating, for the first time in U.S. history, the natural world around us. Solemn because the voices from the podium were issuing dire prophecies about the fate awaiting that natural world. Such warnings were heard everywhere then. The Nobel Prize–winning biochemist George Wald explained to an audience at the University of Rhode Island that unless immediate action was taken, civilization would end within 15 or 30 years. According to Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, that kind of prediction was overly hopeful. In an interview published for Earth Day, Ehrlich proposed…

CONVERSION TO CLEANER ENERGY The U.S. government projects that the renewable contribution to U.S. electricity will rise from 19 percent to 38 percent by 2050—a big increase, but nowhere near enough to meet climate targets. The West leads other regions thanks in part to abundant hydropower. But future increases will be driven by expansion in wind and solar.…

1. COFFEE Almost three-quarters of coffee comes from small farms. Warmer weather and plant diseases may drive up the price. 2. AVOCADOS This fruit’s trees don’t like high heat. If growers shift to kinder environs, it could lengthen shipping distances. 3. SHRIMP Ocean acidification affects crustaceans’ health—and taste. Future shrimp may be less palatable, one study says. 4. SALMON Warming water threatens this and other cold water fish. Less wild breeding may spur more farming to maintain supply. 5. WINE The beverage will endure, but changes in terroirs will force vintners to find ways to maintain wines’ signature tastes. 6. OLIVES Early frosts, heavy rain, and wind halved Italy’s production last year. Such extremes could limit crops in many places. 7. BANANAS So far, warming has expanded the tropical fruit’s…

If you don’t have springtime allergies, you might soon. And if you already do, they might get worse. The 2018 U.S. National Climate Assessment cautions that allergic illnesses like asthma and hay fever are likely to afflict more people amid climate change. Warmer temperatures and earlier springs combine to spur plants to release more pollen over a longer season to irritate your nose, throat, and eyes.…

PANDAS AND TIGERS may be the poster creatures for conservation, but thousands more threatened animals languish out of the spotlight. Most of them aren’t cuddly or charismatic, but they’re no less crucial to ecosystems. Of the 30,000 species documented as being at risk of extinction, 28 percent are reptiles—including six of the seven kinds of sea turtles. Birds are declining because of climate change, habitat loss, predation, and pesticides, with a whopping 2.9 billion fewer in North America than in 1970. Reversing the trend over the next half century requires focusing a lot more attention on these underappreciated rarities. —CHRISTINE DELL’AMORE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Hawksbill turtle Found in tropical and subtropical waters world-wide, hawksbill turtles are hunted for their eggs, meat, and beautiful shells, which are made into decorative tortoiseshell items.…