.
Our home, the Earth, has an august history of 4.5 billion years. Yet humanity, a newcomer that appeared on the scene a mere 300,000 years ago (or 0.0003 billion years) has had an outsized impact on the face of the planet.
The Anthropocene is a proposed new geological epoch of time that reflects the huge changes we have wrought on our home planet. From the layer of cesium 137 across the world –evidence of the explosion of nuclear bombs – to huge quanitites of CO2 in the atmosphere and global climate change, humans have certainly left their mark.
Join us as we navigate research topics that touch on the ways that humanity has affected the Earth, the effects of climate change, and the relationship between society and natural environments.
It is estimated that every 2.6 seconds, a new chemical substance is isolated or synthesized, adding to nearly 200 million identified chemical substances in the world. While many of these are essential for society and not harmful to the environment, one effect of this proliferation of chemicals in our everyday lives has been the increase of polluted environments with multiple contaminants.
If you venture into the woods in Southern Finland, around the Hanko area, you’ll find groups of mounds with hundreds of ants dwelling on top that will spit acid at you when provoked.
You may not realise it, but many of the medicines sold in pharmacies are either directly sourced from nature or have an underlying operating principle drawn from a natural process. Widely used pain relievers paracetamol and aspirin? Originally derived from coal tar and willow bark, respectively.
By Jadwiga Buchwald and Otso PerÄkylÄ (@peacelovestatistiX) To read part I, click here The Great food transformation: Turning the problem into a solution? So, is the planetary health diet the… Read More »World Changing Diet –Part II
By Jadwiga Buchwald and Otso PerÄkylÄ (@peacelovestatistiX) The Planetary Boundaries: Have we pushed our planet to the limit? “It is a planetary emergency,” says world-renowned Professor Johan Rockström in his… Read More »World Changing Diet – Part I
Illustration by Ushanandini Mohanraj What is creativity? The ability for creative thinking is often attributed to people we consider great thinkers. Also artists like dancers, musicians, and painters are often… Read More »On the Relation between Climate and Creativity – a time line