World Environment Day: A planet to live for
Declarations of climate emergency had reached a crescendo, when the pandemic brought us all to a standstill. In the abrupt quiet, we heard the birdsong, and signs that a lesser human footprint could help the environment regenerate itself. But it can't be at the improbable cost of shutting down an intricate machinery of economies and human endeavour. On occasion of the World Environment Day, what then do we hope for this living planet to be?
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
A wheat plantation that used to be virgin Amazon rainforest near Santarem, Brazil. April 20, 2013
Ironically, the world population is growing rapidly—stats indicate about 10 billion people will be on the planet by 2050, requiring ever more food; but the amount of cultivable land is limited. Warmer temperatures have extended growth seasons in some areas and brought drought and pest to others. So, plant-breeders are experimenting with gene editing and speed breeding by tricking crops into flowering early, the goal being to create plant factories on a massive scale
