Earth’s Future, Now With 8 Billion Humans

Humanity has long been chasing that 8 billion number for our global population. As of November 2022, we have surpassed it with only increasing trends in sight. With such a large international population and growing numbers, what kind of new stressors will be placed on the planet? 

Global warming is already a direct indicator of influence on the planet. Humans have permanently changed how we interact with Earth's natural resources, but now it's clear that the reliance on those resources will be put to the utmost test. Populations will put immense pressure on nature, forcing humans to compete with other wildlife for water, food, and materials.

The problem not only arises with the total size of the global population but also with the rapid timeline to the astronomical number. Global population sizes previously always remained below 1 billion people on the planet at any given time until the late 18th century during the time of Napoleon. Rapid growth began to influence global numbers after the start of the Second World War when more than 1 billion people were added to the global population every 12 to 15 years. Key events spurred rapid growth over the last 300 years, including the industrial revolution, medical discoveries, technology, and global commerce trade. Currently, the human population is more than double what it was in 1970, doubling in just over 50 years.

Population analyses over the last few decades also draw attention to the uneven growth experienced worldwide. China and the USA are two places where population growth has been slowly leveling. At the same time, low-income regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and India are responsible for approximately 70 percent of the world’s population increases. There are difficulties to be faced in both scenarios because with leveling population growth, fewer individuals will support the enormous economies, and exponential growth in developing countries will continue to exacerbate already strained systems. The other caveat to increased global numbers is its likelihood to influence mass migrations and conflicts and further jeopardize at-risk environments. 

Experts are forecasting slower growth trends in the future, even though the population trends have been increasing exponentially. Their conclusions draw from increased knowledge and dispersal of contraceptives and safe sex to lower-income countries. Other factors influencing level growth trends include increased women’s rights worldwide, younger generations waiting to have families, and economic pressures driving living rates through the roof for most high-income countries. These forecasts are good news for slowing global population growth. Still, the world will likely not observe decreases until the latter half of this century, as fertility rates and population deaths will be important contributors to change. 
The urgency to allocate new green energy resources before it is too late is becoming increasingly evident. Experts agree that installing sustainable energy resources for low-income countries will greatly decrease their carbon emissions by supporting increasing population demands. Other changes must also be made in high-income countries responsible for more than double the carbon emissions released by the poorest half of the world.

Are Blue Carbon Habitats the New Trend?

As climate change continues to affect environments worldwide, many regions are investing in resource development projects to create blue carbon habitats that sequester atmospheric carbon and reduce urban footprints in nature. Restored blue carbon habitats are quickly appearing along coastlines worldwide, and many scientists have mixed reviews over their contributions to carbon sequestration on a global scale. 

Blue carbon habitats along coastlines are a natural phenomenon observable in mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass meadows. These vital coastal habitats sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and serve as an essential barrier to storm surges and water inundation. Many coastal areas have been degraded due to modernization. Mangrove forests are bulldozed to make way for new beach high rises, and seagrass meadows are quickly eradicated. 

These invaluable coastal habitats support an array of life, with some of the highest biodiversity found anywhere in the world. Areas like mangroves often involve a community of intertwined plants and foliage that create an almost impenetrable wall, preventing the onset of incoming storm surges and rising water levels from reaching areas of land on their adjacent side. After removing large sections of mangrove forests, areas in Florida along the southeastern United States faced millions of dollars in damages after previously mundane tropical storms escalated into national disasters without any natural barriers. What was once a moderate storm surge quickly turned into urban flooding, beach erosion, and unprecedented damages. 

As environmentalists and lawmakers quickly realized the monetary and public safety significance of such vital resources, they began investigating ways to restore and instill new habitat areas that can contribute the same kind of preventative measures these areas once had. The additional benefit of these coastal regions’ ability for carbon sequestration increased their market value on a global scale, as it was thought that large-scale climate change could even be combated. 

Conservation of these regions provides natural climate solutions by conserving greenhouse gas emissions stored inside of their systems and by increasing the carbon dioxide drawn down as areas are restored or created. Experts argue the individual use of these systems to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere is negligible on a global scale and should only be practically used as a mitigation measure while focusing on preserving their valuable biodiversity potential. 

The presumed carbon footprint benefits of restoring coastal ecosystems must have contributions from elsewhere. Otherwise, atmospheric carbon will continue to provoke future climate change. These blue carbon habitats and the associated movement will still have lasting impacts on coastal biodiversity and infrastructure defense, even if their carbon impacts are not as significant as previously thought.

Coastal regions should continue to develop and explore the benefits of restoring their coastal ecosystems to restore natural balance to their native flora and fauna while also contributing to mitigating carbon emissions in the atmosphere.

Last Ditch Effort to Save A Dying Species

Humans, unfortunately, do not have the best history when it comes to maintaining our relationships with the unique species that make up Earth’s wildlife. Many human factors contribute to the decline of a species, including habitat loss and degradation, urban sprawl, and ill-fit regulations to protect endangered populations. 

The vaquita are a charismatic species that has become one of the world's most endangered species. Their populations have declined over the past half-century. Estimates suggest only ten adult individuals are left in Mexico’s Northern Gulf of California. If nothing is done to prevent further decline, they will be erased from Earth’s oceans forever. 

Vaquita are extremely small and agile cetaceans that are incredibly elusive in the wild, making them all the more difficult to see as their population numbers continue to decline. They often inhabit nearshore waters where they come into contact with fishers, illegal gillnets, boats, and humans. The northern region of the Gulf of California has been designated a marine protected area, restricting fishing and banning illegal gillnets, often the culprit of vaquita deaths. However, illicit management tactics and a lack of supervisory resources have allowed continued illegal fishing activities that pose risks to the remaining vaquita. 

Studies suggest 1 in 5 vaquita get entangled and drown in gillnets intended for other species like the totoaba fish. The high price commodity of the totoaba, also a native species to these waters, is the driving force behind continued fishing. Totoaba fish were heavily overfished in the 1970s, even listed as endangered by the late 1970s. There is an international trade ban on totoaba products, but the demand is still thriving in Chinese markets, which has fueled an increase in illegal fishing efforts over the last decade. Many Chinese clients purchase the totoaba’s swim bladder for holistic medicinal purposes. Illegal fishing is incredibly lucrative to local fishers, who can receive up to $4,000 USD per pound of totoaba swim bladder they supply, making them almost half a year’s income. 

Governmental efforts have interceded to support the tiny porpoise, beginning with U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s collaborative efforts like installing an international committee to focus on developing vaquita safe fishing technologies for local fishermen. This committee has worked diligently to improve fishing techniques, avoiding any bycatch complications and contributing to scientific studies on specimens they find in the wild. 

All is not lost for the vaquita, as recent studies extrapolated DNA data collected on individuals over the last 40 years to suggest their species will not suffer extinction due to inbreeding. The remaining individuals are still genetically unique enough to prevent those population complications. Experts suggest their population could rebound over the next 50 years if complete protection is provided and their numbers do not suffer any further exponential declines. 

Saving the vaquita will continue to face challenges from tense relationships between conservationists and local fishermen, foreign market demand for illegal products, and continued use of damaging fishing technologies. The installed committees, scientists, and government officials work to provide every available resource to aid the vaquita’s recovery and future protection. 

How an Invasive Species Turned Into a Delicacy

A new entree has recently expanded across many restaurant menus in the southeastern United States, hoping to aid management efforts and reduce environmental destruction caused by invasive lionfish in the Caribbean. 

Invasive species are organisms not native to an ecosystem that causes harm to other species, habitats, or human health. Species are more likely to become invasive if they reproduce quickly, spread aggressively, and take advantage of new habitats. There are many examples of invasive species throughout history, and most are the unfortunate result of human expansion and global connectivity. Animals are often introduced purposefully or by accident from travel, shipping, and as a means of population control. 

Introduced species outcompete native populations for vital resources and habitat, restructuring food webs that result in cascading ecosystem effects. The success of an invasive species in a foreign environment relies on the lack of natural predators in the new ecosystem, allowing that species to dominate the native organisms. Invasive species also contribute to diseases preventing successful reproduction and altering entire ecosystems. 

There are invasive species worldwide, and many environmental scientists are working diligently to eradicate them out of native ecosystems, but doing so is a monumental task. Many invasive species are small, fast reproducing organisms that rapidly spread over large areas. Tactics used to mitigate their potential spread include using traps, reward incentives, and repurposing their use for consumption purposes. Trapping and reward incentives have proven useful solutions in island nations and small land areas, but larger invasions are harder to mitigate adequately. An interesting tactic for combating the invasive lionfish is developing a productive fishery for their commercial use as a product in restaurants and consumption. 

Lionfish are reef fish native to the Indo-Pacific ocean characterized by colorful red and white striped bodies, featherlike fins, and venomous spines. The species is incredibly damaging to the Caribbean ecosystems because they are incredibly aggressive predatory fish that prey on anything they can catch. Without natural predators outside their native habitat, they have been able to dominate the top of the food chain quickly. Lionfish are a particularly popular aquarium fish with a large market in the United States. 

The behavior of the lionfish in the Atlantic changed with their new habitat, and they act more aggressively than their counterparts in the Indo-Pacific. They are responsible for massive tolls on reef species like grouper and snapper. They can spawn every four days and release eggs that travel through the Caribbean currents. Atlantic populations are estimated to be up to 1,000 individuals per 1 acre at their highest densities, changing management goals. 

Dealing with lionfish can be difficult due to venomous spines that require medical attention. Divers must use extreme caution to avoid stings and use protective gear and fishing poles to collect lionfish. Tactics for removal from local waters have resulted in some success. Rapid repopulation of the fish incited a new management avenue to convert the species into a fishery commodity for restaurants to market as a local delicacy. 

Fishermen first realized you could eat the lionfish during culling events in south Florida, and they were delicious too. Modifying management efforts into a sustainable fishery means creating employment opportunities for small-scale fishermen, volunteer culling opportunities, fishing competitions, and a constant resource for consumer lionfish products. This method of invasive management is slowly gaining traction in the southeastern United States, and maybe one day, you will get to taste your very own lionfish. 

New Environmental Frontiers in China’s First Vertical Home

Global populations have risen exponentially over the last two centuries, with numbers expected to increase past 9.8 billion in 2050 and more than 11 billion by 2100! The enormous global population has taken significant tolls on the Earth and its vital resources, expediting global warming and environmental stress. One of the most significant contributors to global warming is the occupied space and pollution generated by megacities dispersed worldwide in countries like China, India, USA, and more. Scientists have been working to develop strategies to better support growing urban populations, preventing further degradation of the environment. Vertical cities are a solution to those issues, and environmental sectors have been discussing their implementation for a long time. 

Vertical cities are a specific and purposeful redesign of how humans have lived throughout history. Instead of traditional outward expansion of cities by connecting additional infrastructure, these cities utilize the space for development above existing frameworks. Vertical cities are key to managing overpopulation and habitat degradation by confining large populations into sustainable units. By designing vertical developments, skyward cities will be able to preserve natural resources outside the city, protect critical wildlife habitats, and contribute to global environmental status. An ideal vertical city would allow people to live, work, go to school, recycle waste, and produce their food inside a single building.

Let us break down the pros and cons of designing, implementing, and operating one of these massive infrastructure projects because there are reasons why they are not popping up in every major city. The first notable benefit of establishing vertical cities is reducing natural resource acquisition based on land space and urban development. These cities can be installed within current urban boundaries and move many businesses and residential areas off the ground. Unfortunately, because these cities do not exist yet, and we do not have any current data to assess their success, designs receive large amounts of skepticism from funders.

Vertical cities are meant to host hundreds if not thousands of people, so establishing the necessary resources is vital to the building’s survival. These buildings need to be explicitly designed to deal with environmental hazards, evacuation procedures, and plans for any emergency. The biggest hurdle facing these cities is funding because there is no evidence to outweigh their costs with benefits, so installing the first of its kind in China is vital to supply research necessary for future vertical developments. 

China’s staggering 1.4 billion people have put immense stress on the country's space and resources. Most Chinese live and work inside urban developments that significantly lack the space necessary to accommodate large daily influxes of people adequately. That is why China is the first home to one of these vertical cities, designed to support 500 residents and more than 5,000 trees and shrubs on its various levels. This initial development is not meant to be an ideal vertical city but a trial into the environmental benefits of increasing urban greenery and attempting to reduce the spread of people throughout the city. 

The plants were chosen to contribute the most benefits to the region by introducing native, non-invasive species aiding atmospheric recycling of greenhouse gasses. The design is estimated to absorb more than 20 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and emit more than 10 tons of oxygen. These buildings are of paramount importance because their location inside urban settings will directly contribute to the city’s clean air. Either way, the first test of this new way of living will indicate if they are a viable and profitable solution to many of the climate changes Earth is currently facing. If successful, this type of architecture can be expected to show up in every major city around the world and reinvent how we design urban areas.