2021 HERE WE COME!

In 2020 We:

• Relaunched Earthians Care in April

• Published our first relaunch Newsletter in May

• Published on time every month! That’s 8 Newsletters! This is number 9!

• Added to our wonderful team! We’ve had 11 contributors and Team Members!

• Upped our Social Media Game

• Launched our Earthians Care Scholarship Fund

• Learned a lot about ourselves, the world we live in, our organization, and eachother.

In 2021 We Will:

• Award Scholarships! Visit our donation page to help us reach our goal by the end of January!

• Gain new Team Members! We are looking for writers, social media creators, editors, mentors, and artists/photographers!

• Get more people people reading our Newsletters!

• Celebrate one consistent year of Earthians Care!

• Create more interaction and collaboration with middle schools, high schools, and colleges!

• Explore, Learn, and Achieve so much more!

Thank you so much for supporting us and following our journey. We hope you have found us to be both an entertaining and informative source led by inspirational youth!

UNSUNG HEROES OF THE LIVING WORLD

By Abrar Hasanat

FLORA FERN

Our living world is extremely diverse with a variety of flora-faunas existing in almost every ecosystem. Even though most of the characteristics of these living organisms differ from each other – one thing which is a common trait is that oxygen is required for their survival. Be it for the purpose of respiration or photosynthesis - oxygen undoubtedly plays perhaps the most important role.(1) There is no human being who will question the importance and uses of oxygen for sure.

However, do we actually know where most of our oxygen comes from? For most of us, the first thing that comes to mind is - trees, like obviously! All of us were taught in our schools “Trees are the main source of oxygen”. And even though not completely wrong - it is only  20-50% right! So, if not trees - what else could be the source? Well, that’s what we will be talking about today!

The Earth is actually a blue marble. Almost 71% of the total surface of the planet is covered with water.(2) So it’s obvious that a major portion of the total organisms that inhabit the Earth are living in the water bodies. Algae is one of these organisms. According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Algae are very simple, usually small plants that grow in or near water and do not have ordinary leaves or roots.”(3) Now, this might seem a bit unrealistic but actually - these tiny plants living in the oceans or other water bodies are actually the main source of all the oxygen that living organisms are regularly intaking.

Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton— drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize. One particular species, Prochlorococcus, is the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth. But this bacteria is solely responsible for about 20% of the entire oxygen production of the world.(4) To put this into context - the “Amazon Rainforest” is responsible for only 6% of the total oxygen of the world.(5) To make this even better, this 20% is a higher percentage than all of the tropical rainforests on land combined.(4) Not bad for “small plants under the sea”, is it?

One might argue that a significant amount of the produced oxygen remains mixed with the ocean and is usually used by the oceanic organisms. And yes, it is true that in the simple sense one might think algae don’t really make *that* much of an impact upon the organisms who live above the water surface. But think about it, 71% of the earth is covered with water and has billions of organisms in it.(2) Without the oxygen-producing algae, two things might happen. Either the oceanic organisms will start taking oxygen from our environment which, in turn, will result in a massive shortage of oxygen. Or, those organisms will die and make each and every single water body there is polluted.* Now imagine a world with all the water gone due to pollution - scary right? That’s exactly how the world would be without algae.

The importance of algae is not limited to the production of oxygen, even though it’s perhaps the most important. Algae form organic food molecules from carbon dioxide and water through the process of photosynthesis in which they capture energy from sunlight. Similar to land plants, algae are at the base of the food chain, and, given that plants are virtually absent from the oceans, the existence of nearly all marine life ultimately depends upon algae.(6) Algae, as processed and unprocessed food, have an annual commercial value of several billion dollars.(6) Yes! Many countries in eastern Asia even farm Algae for producing food products. And the list goes on and on. So we can surely say algae have a very influential presence in the world.

Now, why aren’t algae getting the same sort of appreciation as trees are getting? Why are they not even considered as a major source of oxygen by many even though they produce the most? The main reason is that they aren’t that noticeable - both visually and practically. They aren’t that great to look at and it’s quite hard to just show these to the people since they live under the water most of the time. Again, even though algae produce more oxygen overall - for the surface dwellers trees are actually the main source since most of the algae produced oxygen is consumed by the aquatic organisms.(4)

However, as the saying goes “Every rose has its thorns”. So even this algae has its share of disadvantages. Too many algae might actually result in no production of oxygen at all! This might sound weird but that’s the truth. The problem is actually created due to the dead algae - not the living ones.(7) Huge numbers of algae grow, clogging the water, in a “bloom.” The algae may produce toxins that can kill sea life, and can also kill sea-life and wildlife by covering them and suffocating them. As the fuel for the bloom runs out, the algae die in huge quantities. The dead algae lead to huge growths of bacteria, which consume oxygen from the water as they feed on the rotting algae.(7)  If an algal bloom is large enough, it leaves behind an area of the ocean, sometimes many square kilometers, that no longer contains enough oxygen in the water to support life. These regions are known as “dead zones.”(7) So we can see that algae don’t come without deficits.

In the end, I’d like to say that even though trees and forests look way better and more lively - they only produce a small fraction of the total oxygen demand of the world. The algae and planktons do most of the work.(4) That’s why I called them the unsung heroes. Even though algae have their deficits in the form of algae bloom, the ocean recovers from those quite easily so it doesn’t really cause that much of a problem unless it carries on over a massive area. Even though it’s hard to imagine the algae of the ocean having such a massive impact - it’s nothing but the truth. And we should start taking care of the algae - because if they die, the entire world both below and above the surface will face unmeasurable sufferings.

Works Cited:

1. Ott, Adolph. “Oxygen as a Source of Heat and Light.” Scientific American. Scientific American, December 11, 1869. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oxygen-as-a-source-of-heat-and-ligh/.

2. How Much Water is There on Earth? Accessed January 1, 2021. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth.

3. “ALGAE: Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/algae.

4. “How Much Oxygen Comes from the Ocean?” NOAA's National Ocean Service. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-oxygen.html.

5. Brannen, Peter. “The Amazon Is Not Earth's Lungs.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, August 28, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amazon-fire-earth-has-plenty-oxygen/596923/.

6. “Ecological and Commercial Importance.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/science/algae/Ecological-and-commercial-importance.

7. Sam Westreich, PhD. “Most of Our Oxygen Doesn't Come From Where You Think.” Medium. Sharing Science, July 29, 2020. https://medium.com/a-microbiome-scientist-at-large/most-of-our-oxygen-doesnt-come-from-where-you-think-a464b278ef76.

*Theories stated in a non peer reviewed article written by Michael Pilson, an emeritus oceanographer. This title is not verified.

1. “What Would Happen If There Was No Algae in the Oceans?” Quora. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-there-was-no-algae-in-the-oceans.

 By Sam Townson

We’ve made it, we survived 2020, and it is finally January 2021. Happy New Year and well done for making it through one of the weirdest years ever. I hope you’re excited for what 2021 will bring and if you’re looking for something new to try I have just the thing for you…Veganuary!

What is this Veganuary you speak of?

Well, technically Veganuary is a non-profit organisation which promotes veganism and educates people about the benefits of being vegan. However, their main aim is to encourage people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January; hence, Veganuary has come to mean being Vegan for January.

Simply put, Veganuary means not eating, using or buying any products that have come from animals for the entire month of January. For example, not buying leather products, hygiene products tested on animals or food products from animals (such as meat, cheese and milk).

Since Veganuary began back in 2014 over 1,000,000 people have participated from all over the world!(1) It really took off here in the UK last year with supermarket shelves stocked up with loads of new vegan goodies ranging from vegan burgers to plant-based cheesecakes! In fact, over 1200 new vegan products and menus were launched for Veganuary 2020.(2) But the best bit is that, unlike in previous years, these goodies stayed on the shelves rather than it just being a passing phase.

Why take part?

Apart from being a little challenge or something exciting to try for 2021, there are also amazing benefits! I’ll break it down in four main categories: protecting animals, reducing environmental damage, improved health and saving money!

Protecting Animals:

It is estimated that in Britain, Veganuary 2019 led to 3.6 million animal lives being saved in just 6 months as people planned to stay vegan or alter their habits for life!(3) Other research found that just one person being vegan for a month saves the lives of 33 animals.(4) Not only are animals’ lives saved but many are protected from suffering. In dairy farming female cows are artificially inseminated from as young as 15 months (5)  and then after their first pregnancy every 12 months.(6)  The mother and calf are then separated within just 36 hours so the milk intended for the calf can be taken from the mother.(5) This is in contrast to the natural process in which calves don’t separate from their mothers or stop drinking their milk until after around 5 months.(7) Not only is this deeply unnatural, but it is traumatising for mother and calf.

Reducing Environmental Damage:

Eating a plant-based diet can drastically reduce your carbon footprint and therefore your contribution to climate change! Research has found that the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from many plant-based products are as much as 10-50 times lower than most animal-based products. For example, a kilogram of beef causes 60Kg CO2 equivalent while a kilo of peas causes 0.9Kg CO2 equivalent.(8) Another study found that being vegan for just one month can save 150,000 litres of water and prevent the deforestation of 900 square feet of forest.(4)

 Improving your Health:

This is one frequently used to encourage people to take part in Veganuary but one I personally shy away from shouting about. Yes, there are studies which suggest a plant-based diet can reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure but being vegan isn’t all about being healthy. There is just as much tasty, fun vegan junk food out there to try! I am not saying that being vegan cannot be healthy, but vegan does not have to equal healthy. And to end a myth NOT ALL VEGANS EAT QUINOA AND AVOCADO!

However, eating a plant-based diet can help you to be healthier! Research has shown that vegans had the lowest levels of blood cholesterol (one of the main causes of heart disease) when compared to vegetarians and meat-eaters.(9) Not only this but it has been found that eating a vegan diet can help you get loads of antioxidants into your body which has been shown to make you live longer.(10) SO, veganism doesn’t have to be healthy, but if healthy is what you want it is the way to go!! 

Protecting your Pocket:

A new Kantar study has found that plant-based meals cost 40% less than meat or fish-based meals!(11) We all know 2020 has been a difficult year and Christmas can often leave our bank accounts feeling a little sorry for themselves; so, veganism is here to help. 

This might be in contrast to many things you’ve heard about the vegan diet as it is often suggested that veganism is more expensive and inaccessible! I am not going to lie and say that all vegan products are cheaper when you can go to the supermarket tomorrow and see that vegan mayo is nearly twice as much as non-vegan mayo. However, it is only these processed foods that are more expensive! Broccoli is almost always cheaper than the same amount of chicken or beef; so, making your meals with whole-foods like beans, pulses and vegetables and not relying on heavily processed foods is what will make your vegan diet easier on your pocket!

What do you think?

I am going to be taking part in Veganuary this year and I hope you will consider it too! I acknowledge that it is not for everyone and there are barriers to veganism! I will list some resources below for vegan recipes and other ideas! 

Do not feel pressured into going all out for Veganuary! Set a challenge that works for you; whether that is one vegan day a week, one vegan meal everyday or just cutting down on animal products in general. There is no action too small!

I also encourage you to interact with the Earthians Care social media! Let us know what actions you’re taking and any exciting recipes you make this Veganuary! I hope to share some of my own with you over the month!

Resources:

Veganuary Recipes - https://veganuary.com/recipes/

Veganuary Eating Guides - https://veganuary.com/eating-guides/

BBC Vegan Recipes - https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/veganuary

I Love Vegan - https://www.ilovevegan.com/resources/

The Vegan Society - https://www.vegansociety.com/

American Vegan Society - https://americanvegan.org/

Works Cited:

1. Veganuary. (2020a) Join the New Year’s Revolution. (Accessed 29 December 2020) Available at https://veganuary.com/

2. Chiorando, M. (2020) Vegan Boom: Over 1,200 New Plant-Based Products Launched in January as Demand Surges. Plant Based News. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/vegan-products-launched-january/ 

3. Webster, B. (2020) Sales of beef and pork plunge as Britons choose vegan diet. The Times. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/red-meat-sales-hit-as-800-000-people-go-vegetarian-kpz2k3xnz 

4. Kahn, J. (2017) The Environmental Impacts of Going Vegetarian for Just One Day. VegNews. (Accessed 29 December 2020) Available at https://vegnews.com/2017/7/the-environmental-impacts-of-going-vegetarian-for-just-one-day

5. Newkey-Burdern, C. (2018) Supporting the dairy industry inflicts more pain on cows than you know. And yes, that includes drinking their milk. The Independent. (Accessed 19 December 2020) Available at https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/dairy-industry-animal-rights-cow-treatment-milk-production-a8554196.html

6. RSPCA. (2020) Dairy Cows - Farming. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/dairy/farming

7. Levitt, T. (2019) Rise of ethical milk: ‘Mums ask when cows and their calves are separated’. The Guardian. (Accessed 29 December 2019). Available at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/29/mums-ask-when-cows-and-their-calves-separated-rise-ethical-milk-vegan 

8. Poore and Nemecek. (2018) Food: greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain. Our World in Data. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local

9. Bradbury, K., Crowe, F., Appleby, P. et al. Serum concentrations of cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein B in a total of 1694 meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 178–183 (2014). https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2013248  

10. Viva! (2020) The Role of Diet in Longevity. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://viva.org.uk/health/healthy-vegan-diet/why-veganism-is-healthy/longevity-and-mortality

11. Veganuary. (2020b) New Study Finds Vegan Meals Cost 40% Less than Meat/Fish. (Accessed 29 December 2020). Available at https://veganuary.com/vegan-meals-cost-40-percent-less-than-meat-fish/
    
    

DUGON dugon

By Preston Brunk

The Dugong dugon, or Dugong for their common name, is one of the many vulnerable marine species that is native to Coastal East Africa and the Coral Triangle. Living roughly 70 years, growing up to 8 to 10 feet long and weighing in at 500-1000 pounds, this “sea cow”, as they are commonly referred to, lives off of marine grasses growing in shallow coastal areas. They are cousins to the manatee but quite different in their physical features: a Dugong has more of a whale tail unlike the manatee. These critters rely on shallow coastal areas to forage on grasses; however, nowadays they are facing extreme habitat loss and ocean transformations. Where vegetation once grew heavily and provided a suitable habitat, now these ecosystems have diminished and are less desirable for this species and simply cannot sustain the species. 

Some threats that Dugongs deal with everyday are fishing nets that are dragged along the ocean bottoms catching fish swimming near those desired habitats. Another threat is fishing nets that are abandoned in the ocean thus tangling up these poor Dugongs. Some natural predators to the Dugong calves consist of killer whales, saltwater crocodiles and some coastal sharks. These species are struggling to thrive in the wild for numerous reasons. The Dugongs reproduction rate is quite low. Each year they go through a yearlong pregnancy if they are able to find a mate. After birth, the calf Dugongs remain with their mother for a little more than a year until they are able to go about on their own. Having one offspring per year makes it extremely difficult for these Dugong populations to grow due to multiple reasons. There could be the case where the calf is stillborn if the mother couldn’t get enough marine grasses in order to ensure that the calf would grow inside the womb. Say the calf survived birth, now they are faced with other threats like fishermen, sharks, and killer whales. While fighting off these extreme threats, they are also faced with habitat degradation which thus limits their available food resources. There are many odds against these interesting creatures.   

However, it's not all grim prospects for the Dugongs! Thanks to new legal protection, these Dugongs that were once hunted for food, fat, bones and teeth are now protected throughout the world and their populations have started to replenish. Their population was once endangered due to being hunted so hard with little to no knowledge of those populations. Now that hunting has diminished and Dugong preserves have been established along the coasts of Australia and other tropic regions, these species are now back to populations of 1,000’s per several miles of coastline. There haven't been many recent dugong surveys to determine just how much the population has rebounded, but using human encounters there is a substantial increase of interactions in the wild and around the preserves!

Sources:

1. “Dugong.” Oceana. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://oceana.org/marine-life/marine-mammals/dugong.

2. “Dugong.” WWF. World Wildlife Fund. Accessed January 1, 2021. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/dugong.

3. “Dugong: National Geographic.” Animals, September 24, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/d/dugong/.

4. 00929473, Authority control NDL: Society for Marine Mammalogy, December 4, 2014. https://marinemammalscience.org/facts/dugong-dugon/.

OUR FIRST TEAM MEETING

We had our first Team Meeting! It was really just a fun little meet up to get to know eachother a little better! We were missing some of our amazing team, but it was so great to spend the time with those who could make it. So much love and gratitude for these Earthians!