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ENVIRONMENT: Is it possible to save the planet?

Restoring the Mississippi Delta, turning blue jeans into home insulation, the rise of vertical forests, and greening cities

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April 20, 2021 6:48pm EDT

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THE BIG QUESTION:

IS IT POSSIBLE TO SAVE THE WORLD?

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

PHOTO BY NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY/JOSHUA STEVENS; NOAA NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA, AND INFORMATION SERVICE

By Robert Kunzig, ENVIRONMENT Executive Editor

A lot needs to change about how we live on this planet if we’re to pass it on to our kids in good shape. To make that change happen, we have to believe in our hearts and know in our minds that it can happen. That’s what this new newsletter is about: keeping you aware of what’s possible.

The past year has radically expanded our sense of that. Who knew a year ago that so many of us could do our jobs from home, drive and fly so little, or survive so much time with our loved ones? That there’d be a vaccine by the end of 2020 against a virus we hadn’t heard of when the year began? Or, on the other hand, that such a pathogen might kill millions of us—including a lot of essential workers who couldn’t stay home—and devastate the lives of so many more?

When we’ve finally come out of the pandemic, environmental threats like climate change will remain, presenting even deeper dangers. We’ll keep covering those at National Geographic—the rising temperatures and seas, the melting glaciers, the intensifying storms and droughts—but we’re going to be paying more attention now to what can be done about them. There’s a lot being done these days.

A boom in offshore wind energy that has been going on in the North Sea for years is at last coming to American waters, Madeleine Stone writes for us this week. Communities all over the United States are banding together and demanding more renewables, writes my colleague Alejandra Borunda.

By the time you read this, the Biden administration may have announced its near-term goal for U.S. carbon emissions—environmentalists have been urging a commitment to cut them in half by 2030. Would that even be possible? It will be exciting to find out.

(Pictured at top, a loose chain of tropical cyclones lined up across the Western Hemisphere on Sept. 4, 2019.)

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A VIRTUAL CELEBRATION

Tune-in Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET for a special Earth Day Eve musical celebration. Hosted by Jessica Nabongo, the event will span the globe with visually stunning performances from some of the most beautiful places in the world by AURORA, Angélique Kidjo, José González, Maggie Rogers, My Morning Jacket, Rostam, Valerie June, Willie Nelson, Yo-Yo Ma, and Ziggy Marley. The party will continue afterward LIVE with Jayda G on @NatGeo TikTok, counting down to #NatGeoEarthDay.

JOIN US

ONE MOMENT

PHOTOGRAPH BY VIRGINIA HANUSIK

A mindful mission: Louisiana’s wetlands near the Mississippi Delta are being lost to a rise in the sea levels, leaving eerie "ghost forests." Under the state’s coastal restoration plan, Jacqueline Kehoe writes for Nat Geo, “more land could be saved than lost by 2060. It’s a plan that could save species, create new science and industries, and mitigate climate impact on millions of lives.” Ecotourism could help this ‘Amazon of North America’ recover, Kehoe writes. (Pictured above, a boat in Port Eads, the southernmost point of Louisiana, where the Mississippi meets the Gulf of Mexico.)

HOW TO HELP: A number of groups are trying to help save the Lower Mississippi. Here are four: Imagine Water Works, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans, and Waterwise Gulf South.

TAKE FIVE

How to stop discarded face masks from polluting the planet

Is telecommuting really greener?

Will U.S. and China really play ball on climate?

Get to the green: 14 camping hacks for families

Next: A 1,000-fold increase in offshore wind energy?

TUNE IN FOR NATURE

WATCH THE TRAILER

IN THIS ISSUE

New ways you can help the planet: Did you know that your cast-off blue jeans could become home insulation? That there’s a company that has collected over 110 million natural bottle corks for reuse as shoe soles and other items? That you can buy ice-cream brand containers and other staples in packaging you can send back for refill? Or that you can join more than 90,000 divers worldwide who have picked up more than 1.8 million pieces of marine trash—so far (pictured below)? Find out more.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLIE FENWICK

NEED HELP finding more planet-friendly innovations? Here are several ideas. Can you imagine algae turned into a chandelier? Pollution turned into pen ink? Or a vertical forest that rises in a big city? Each is happening now. Read on!

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Bonus Podcast Episode

"The Secret Culture of Killer Whales" Photographer Brian Skerry swims with killer whales and discovers these apex predators have unique cultures that aren’t that different from our own..

LISTEN NOW

Subscriber Exclusive Benefit

New Earth Day Collection: Bring Earth Day home with a new collection of Nat Geo photographs inspired by our shared love for the planet, custom framed by Framebridge. Subscribe to get 15 percent off your favorite print and view the full collection at natgeo.com/framed.

BROWSE PRINTS

IN A FEW WORDS

It's warming—it's us, we're sure—it's bad, but we can fix it.

Kim Nicholas

Climate scientist, author of Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World

From: The five stages of 'radical climate acceptance'

FAST FORWARD

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER, @DGUTTENFELDER

Bright lights, renewable energy? Today the lights of Las Vegas Boulevard are bright, but how will the cities of the future be powered? What will a renewable-energy, carbon-free future look like? How can we get there? Nat Geo photographer and Explorer David Guttenfelder took this image on this renewable-energy road trip across the United States.

HOW TO HELP: Find out how communities are trying to reduce their environmental footprint by moving from natural gas and coal to electricity. Learn how city trees reduce power usage—and how to promote such efforts. Catch up on how the movement for electric vehicles has gained momentum.

EXPLORE

We hope you liked today’s inaugural Planet Possible newsletter. This was edited and curated by Monica Williams and David Beard, and photographs were selected by Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant and Rita Spinks helped produce this. Have any suggestions or links to planet-helping stories? Let us know at [email protected]. Have a good week ahead!

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ENVIRONMENT: Is it possible to save the planet?

Restoring the Mississippi Delta, turning blue jeans into home insulation, the rise of vertical forests, and greening cities

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