Popular Science - USA (2020 - Winter)

DUO

DYNAMIC

IN THE SLIVER OF TIME SINCE

the Industrial Revolution, human

enterprise has turned disastrous,

ramping up extinctions, causing

nuclear meltdowns, and altering

the atmosphere that’s kept Earth’s

climate stable for more than

10,000 years. Nature, to its credit,

BY MEERA SUBRAMANIAN

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

WILL DRAYSON

POPSCI.COM

WINTER 2020

PG 102

always tries to claw back, like a

fire- resistant seed sprouting to

life after the flames. But in many

cases, the damage we’ve wrought

runs too deep for an organic fix.

There is hope, however. By put-

ting our ingenuity and resources

toward science- based restoration

efforts, we can complement na-

ture’s ability to adapt—and even

boost it further. The five catastro-

phes on the following pages show

it takes patience (and more than a

little humility) to play Earth’s side-

kick. But minding cues from when

that symbiosis flourished in the

past could be the key to keeping

the planet healthy and averting

even bigger upheavals.

HUMANS AND EARTH

ARE OFTEN AT

ODDS, BUT WHEN

DISASTER STRIKES,

THEY CAN COMBINE

THEIR POWERS TO

BRING NEW LIFE TO

LANDSCAPES.