
Wolfgang Korsus Dipl.-Ing. NT, Astrophysiker
Klingenberg 40
25451 Quickborn
Email: wkorsus@gmx.de
iPhone: 01625680456
FN: 04106 69295
Website: Wolfgang.korsus.net
Chapter 333
The earth is our home – this is how it changes
The world is changing and I try to report about it in my articles. Many of my friends from the field of astrophysics have contributed to the 22 articles that shed light on the current state of our planet and what the future might bring.

Palatinate Forest Germany
The threats at a glance :
Around the world, on each of the five continents, forests are threatened by deforestation, climate change, pest infestation and fires. And please note these ecosystems, they are just one example of how the earth is changing.
National Geographic has been reporting from all corners of the earth for a very long time, namely for 136 years. With this article, I and my „astro-friends“ also try to bring my readers closer to the wonders of the world and hopefully help you to understand them better – and I don’t shy away from explaining the „challenges and dangers“ facing our planet:
⇒ Three terms in particular I have turned my attention to over the past six years :
pollution – degradation – climate change
I have increasingly focused not only on the rapidly growing problems, but above all on solutions that could be the „salvation“ for all living beings on earth.
So here is a list of 22 stories in which I focus entirely on the state of the world. Important are stories about interventions in nature, about global air pollution and the promises and risks of new energy sources, but also about the consequences – attention :….. from food insecurity to armed conflicts – that the changing environment brings with it for us.
I would like to emphasize three findings in particular, as these are at the heart of this report.
– Firstly, that without technology it will not be possible to get the drivers of climate change under control, above all the emission of greenhouse gases.
The „reduction“ of „emissions“ remains the top priority for me. On the other hand, however, it is clear from the articles that both aspects are not being pursued as vehemently and quickly as they need to be. It is highly condemnable that the economy as well as the public sector and private individuals are doing almost nothing to avert the current development. My final realization is that not every single one of us is feeling the consequences of the crisis with the same severity or will continue to do so in the future. It is always the weakest (i.e. the defenceless) – both wild animals and humans – who are guaranteed to suffer the most. However, there is actually no exception……The problem concerns us all. We „inhabitants of the earth“ all have a duty to solve it – and that can only be done absolutely together.
Dear readers, please look at the pictures carefully !!!
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Schneeferner Glacier Zugspitze 2962m 2023 – 1945 -1920

Morning light on Gothic Mountain in the US state of Colorado
1. nature is out of sync – and as a result everything is changing everywhere
Yes, I’m sure everyone who learns to dance knows this –
Two friends from Washington DC told me that the famous cherry blossom in Washington, D.C., peaks on April 2 every year on average. However, in 2024, the first blossoms appeared in mid-March and on March 17, the trees were in full bloom much too early. For me, this was just „an“ example of the fact that every important process in ecology takes place according to a clock that goes by the name of
Flowering, egg-laying, breeding, new life !……-how nature is out of kilter, you can observe something similar elsewhere: Trees shed their colorful autumn leaves later, flowers bloom earlier, in some regions the snow melts before winter has really begun. This new timing is a very big problem for the animal and plant world: there is not enough time to collect pollen for pollination, so the trees‘ recovery phases are greatly shortened, camouflaging fur no longer fulfills its purpose and makes certain species easy prey for predators.
2. in the last two decades, forests have dramatically changed to the „wrong“ in nature
Simply put, the forest is not just a tired habitat for thousands of different species. They are also a particularly effective weapon in the fight against climate change, as they remove CO ₂ from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. Only we stupid humans are cutting it down at an alarming rate. We have now reached a point where climate change is increasingly causing extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, which are also putting trees under increasing pressure. However, it can be said that various approaches and ideas for saving the forests are known. The question, however, is whether „we“ will implement them, because many idiots want nothing to do with them and can do „nothing“ with them.
The next evil is the murderous light pollution, which makes it impossible to admire the night sky in many places. Wildlife in particular – from birds to dragonflies – is increasingly suffering from a great and growing lack of darkness worldwide.
3. hurray, the nights are getting brighter, say the ignorant – I say, unfortunately always at the expense of the earth
A calculation has been made that says that around 83 percent of the night sky above the Earth is now affected by light pollution. This is because it not only obstructs the view of the stars, but also disturbs the biological rhythm of approximately one day (another biological rhythm, blood pressure, which controls our sleep, body temperature and pulse and is of major importance for our health).
But wildlife suffers even more: bright lights can divert birds from their migration routes and increase the risk of them flying into buildings and dying. Certain dragonfly species cannot mate if the night is too bright. As many of them are already classified as endangered, this could cause the extinction of entire species. ( Blame man )
4. successes and failures in species conservation ( there is too little pressure )
As is often the case in life, two scenarios play their part. In the first, I go to 2020 there was saving the planet, in the second we do nothing. One article focused on conservation successes and progress in protecting natural habitats and breeding programs that have saved species that would otherwise have gone extinct. There was also a second article that highlighted how many species are simply not considered in these measures.
It is a sea otter, searching for food among the sea grass. This species was on the brink of extinction, but through measures to protect it, a „targeted growth“ of the population could be achieved.


5. the sea otters are back – and isn’t everyone happy about that? !!!
After merciless fur hunting: sea otters return to the US West Coast
The story of their near-extinction is a brutal eco-drama that began in the 1700s when Russian sailors explored the Aleutian Islands and discovered what the indigenous peoples of the Pacific coast had long known: sea otters have the thickest fur in the animal kingdom. The coastal inhabitants also valued these furs, but hunted the otters in a „sustainable manner“ – in stark contrast to the severely mentally handicapped newcomers, to whom such traditions were alien. By the time the international trade in seal and sea otter pelts was restricted by treaty in 1911, only a few sparse clusters remained of the sea otter populations that had once ringed the Pacific – between 150000 and 300000 individuals from Baja California in Mexico up to the northern islands off Alaska, Russia and Japan. It’s a typical human approach: if something sells well because of its dense and soft fur, we exterminate it. This has brought the sea otter very close to the brink of extinction. I am extremely pleased that nowadays, thanks to targeted species protection measures and the tireless efforts of human helpers, the population is growing again. Nevertheless, I would like to point out that when a species that has disappeared from an ecosystem for decades returns, this can also have undesirable consequences.
However, sea otters can also be cruel. They are predators, carnivorous, tough fellows. They crush mussel shells with their jaws and teeth and tear out the intestines of smaller, spiny animals.
The picture shows a 70-day-old male foetus of a white rhino, the result of the first successful implantation of an embryo in a rhino. I would like to point out that expensive breeding programs may at some point be the only way to save endangered species from extinction, but anyone who knows humans also knows how they could react differently!

Endangered species have only one way to be saved, and that is artificial insemination!
Artificial insemination may be the only way to save the northern white rhino from extinction. There are currently only two older females of the species left. The last male died in 2018, but researchers have stored sperm and egg cells from various individuals and want to use them to create embryos that they can carry to term from southern white rhinos, which are genetically similar to northern white rhinos. The project costs several million euros and there are those who doubt whether the results will justify this expenditure. There are many species around the world whose survival is at risk. How far should we go to save them ???….. (cutting the capital out of the ribs of the super-smart and clever rulers)…would be a sensible act !!!
For years, researchers have been fighting to save the northern white rhino from extinction. Now they have achieved a significant breakthrough in their efforts: In the laboratory, they conceived the embryo of a southern white rhino through artificial insemination and successfully implanted it into a surrogate mother, the female rhino Curra. An almost three-month pregnancy followed.
Sunrise and sunset over the Bears Ears National Monument in the US state of Utah. Conservationists emphasize the importance of placing more natural landscapes like this under official protection

7th rescue: New ideas for nature reserves
Researchers have been warning for quite some time that we are facing a miserable mass extinction. As always, industry, the spread of human settlements and climate change are leading to the destruction of ecosystems. This leads to the disappearance of the species living in them, little by little – but then for all time. ….not true Donald Trump?
Or are you saying again: climate change doesn’t exist! Your scientific education is not worth a penny !
Conservationists repeatedly emphasize that a few national parks here and there are not enough as a countermeasure. Nature conservation zones must be created, and they must be created everywhere: not only in large, remote natural areas, but also in cities, on private timber industry land, in seas and rivers and beyond.
Pollution of air and water
Plastic bottles at a recycling facility in Valenzuela, Philippines. Plastic waste clogs rivers and poses a threat to marine life.
Living and working in waste: a family removes labels from plastic bottles under a bridge in Bangladesh. They then sell the bottles, carefully sorted into white and green, to scrap dealers. Waste pickers earn around 80 euros a month here.

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8. I am certainly not a friend of drowning, but we are already drowning in plastic !!!
With the production of plastic, „the world“ thought of an economic revolution. It came true for two serious sectors, medicine and agriculture. The light and durable material provided increasing and operational benefits there. For the rest of the world it has become easily disposable dirt. The dirt piles up by the ton ( weight) in the sea on land and a little less in the air.
Mankind is literally drowning in filth……. no „swimming course“ will help. The „wealthy“ part of them sends it in the water and by land to the world of the defenseless and poor. The presidents of the mainly Western world only send meaningless greetings.
Plastic was supposed to revolutionize our world and it has done so – but in a different way than expected. From agriculture to the medical sector, the lightweight, durable material has many uses. However, very little of it is reused and so it has become one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. Microplastics are everywhere – in the air and water, our food and our blood – and are causing massive damage to wildlife.
9. air pollution: a pandemic in slow motion
Please, dear readers, don’t be angry with me, but this is a topic I have been working on very intensively. ….denn Tracking down the dirt in the air is not easy….
Air pollution easily manages to kill 7 million people time and time again. It’s only an estimate, but it’s almost true. ( exact numbers cannot be verified )
Exhaust fumes can be just as deadly as traditional methods of food preparation if we are repeatedly exposed to them. But there are methods that have also been proven to help contain the danger safely. Comprehensive legislation, such as the Clean Air Act in the USA, can drastically reduce pollution in the air and water (hopefully there will be monitoring).
Large cities are particularly affected and are considered to be conurbations of „thick“ air. However, air pollution knows no borders and so wind and weather spread air pollutants all over the world. The smallest pollutant particles and gases are released into the air through material conversion processes in traffic, industry and agriculture. There they mix to form an unhealthy chemical cocktail that we breathe in every day.
What is air pollution?
Pure air consists mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). There is also argon (0.9 %), carbon dioxide (0.04 %) and a few other trace gases. It is a „colorless and odorless gas mixture“ that provides our lungs with an optimal supply of oxygen.
Air pollution is the deviation of the air composition from its natural values due to emissions of potential pollutants. However, natural „original air“ is now nowhere to be found on earth. The reason: human activity has always polluted the atmosphere. In modern times, unclean air is therefore a normal condition that we have to live with – both outdoors and indoors.
The question is therefore not whether air is polluted or not, but rather we must regularly ask ourselves: „what level of air pollution is acceptable without long-term consequences for health and the environment“? For this reason, the EU has set limit values for air pollutants in the „Air Quality and Clean Air for Europe“ directive.
Causes of poor air quality ⁉
Air pollution is predominantly of human origin. The causes are mainly due to the following sectors:
* INDUSTRY (this includes coal-fired power plants)
* TRANSPORT (@cars, aviation and shipping)
* AGRICULTURE (chemical fertilizers and pesticides)
* PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS (cooking, heating and lighting)
Which substances are involved?
Combustion and other incomplete material conversion processes produce various chemical, biological or physical pollutants that are released (emitted) into the air:
* solid particles, e.g. dust, smoke or soot
* Gases, e.g. CO2, ammonia, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides
* aerosols
These emitted substances are primary pollutants. Wind, heat and solar radiation cause a chemical process to occur in the air. The primary substances mix and react with each other. This creates secondary air pollutants such as particulate matter and ozone. This is the reason why ozone and particulate matter levels in cities sometimes reach critical levels, especially in summer.
Taken together, this combination of air pollutants forms
forms a harmful chemical cocktail that we inevitably inhale, significantly affecting our health and the environment.
Types of air pollution
Air pollution is not the same everywhere. There are different types, and pollution is often categorized by polluter group. For this reason, the WHO also distinguishes between „indoor“ air pollution (from households) and „outdoor“ air pollution (from industry, traffic or agriculture).
The different sectors do not pollute the air in the same way. Each group dominates with certain pollutant emissions. Industry is the main producer of dust, sulphur oxides and CO ₂ . Transport is particularly responsible for emissions of nitrogen monoxide (NO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO). Agriculture mainly pumps nitrogen oxides (N2O), ammonia and methane into the atmosphere.
– geographical (e.g. urban, rural, in different countries)
* substance-related (e.g. nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, smoke)
* problem-related (e.g. acid rain, seasonal smog, climate change)
Air pollution can also have natural origins. For example, volcanic activity, fires, pollen count or dust storms. However, these causes are far less significant as a whole and can therefore be largely ignored.
Air pollution from agriculture
Almost everyone knows that cars and industry pollute the air. However, the fact that modern agriculture also contributes significantly to global air pollution is often overlooked.
Fertilizers and pesticides produce vapours with suspended particles that spread far beyond the place of application. In contrast, traditional (organic) agriculture, as practiced until the mid-19th century, was not a problem. Neither pesticides nor artificial fertilizers were used here. Only natural material cycles took place: Although metabolic products were released into the air by the vegetation, they were equally bound again by the growing biomass.
In the age of synthetic nitrogen fertilization, which was made possible by the Haber-Bosch process, an additional material cycle now exists. The added nutrients cannot be fully incorporated into the biomass and accumulate in the air and water. In this way – and due to excessive livestock farming – agriculture is the main source of emissions of ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These are all gases that contribute to air pollution.Consequences for people and the environment
Scientists and doctors around the world agree that air pollution contributes significantly to the impairment of health and the promotion of diseases. The WHO records around 7 million deaths every year due to the consequences of polluted air.
Pollution levels are particularly high in economically emerging countries such as China and India. In many cities there, conditions are still similar to those found in Europe shortly after industrialization: smoking industrial chimneys in the middle of residential areas, concentrated coal power and smog that just won’t go away.
In India’s New Delhi, the capital city with the worst air pollution in the world, life expectancy is a full three years below average. The fine dust pollution there exceeds European limits many times over. The situation in Beijing is not much different at times. In the winter of 2016, for example, the Chinese metropolis was engulfed in a thick fog of smog for an entire month. But the air is also regularly thick in Europe, for example in Paris or the greater Stuttgart area.
Effects on health
Secondary pollutants are often even more harmful than their parent substances. Ozone is toxic in higher concentrations and irritates the respiratory tract. Fine dust particles can in all probability cause cancer. The reason: some of the particles are so small that they enter the bloodstream via the alveoli. This is how they reach our body cells, where they can trigger uncontrolled reactions.
Coarse pollutant particles such as smoke or soot, on the other hand, are deposited in the lungs. As with cigarettes, long-term exposure can lead to black discoloration, tissue damage and ultimately lung cancer.
The health consequences of air pollution include :
* Respiratory diseases, such as asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
* heart attack
* Stroke
* Cancer, e.g. lung cancer
* Risk of suffocation in acute cases
Effects on the environment and climate
But it is not only our health that is affected. Air pollution also has a strong impact on the climate and the environment. For example, an excess of nitrogen oxides and ammonia leads to eutrophication of soils and water bodies and thus interferes with the natural ecological balance. In addition, dirty air naturally also affects the animal and plant world, which are just as dependent on fresh air as we humans are. Furthermore, certain air pollutants, such as CO2 and methane, are involved in climate change.
Air pollution – prospects for the future
Since the 1970s, there have been periods of serious air pollution in Europe due to industrialization, such as acid rain and recurring smog in summer. As a result, the population in Germany and throughout Europe has not only become more aware of the problem, but measures have also been taken to reduce pollution. For example, emissions of some pollutants have been successfully reduced by filter and catalytic converter technologies and banning cars on Sundays.
However, the issue of air pollution remains a serious problem. In many countries, people are still fighting for their right to clean air. Although some governments and municipalities, such as China, are already taking promising measures, there is still a long way to go. And there is still a lot to do in Germany too.
We are also facing another problem that is directly related to air pollution. Climate change, as a result of rising emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 or methane, is increasingly putting a strain on our livelihoods. Although CO2 is non-toxic to humans, the global warming it causes leads to other problems, such as drought or extreme weather phenomena. This type of air pollution therefore also has a major impact on our health.
The greenhouse effect, or the resulting climate change, is not the cause of air pollution but, like it, a result of increasing emissions. Both problems go hand in hand and can only be solved by a significant reduction in pollutant emissions.
In the long term, the main cause of both problems – air pollution and climate change – will very likely be and remain agriculture and the associated land use change. In contrast to the energy transition, where the trend is away from coal power and towards renewable energies, there is unfortunately no solution in sight so far.
10 The revolution is here
When and how will air travel become sustainable?
What does it mean to become sustainable? ….. will have a major impact in the long term!More than 80 percent of the world’s population has never flown by plane – and yet air travel causes 2.5 to five percent of all environmentally harmful emissions. The figure may seem small at first glance, but in proportion, hardly anything has such a large effect on the personal carbon footprint as traveling by plane. It is expected that this sector will continue to grow in the coming years. It is therefore all the more important that ways are found to make flying more sustainable so that the negative impact on the planet does not become even greater.
The prototype of the Maserati MC20 BEV discharges electricity during a test run. Electric vehicles like this are important building blocks in the effort to reduce the negative impact of transportation on the environment.

11 The future of driving is electric Around 20 percent of global CO₂ emissions are caused by transportation every year. Slightly less than half of this is caused by cars. If all these cars were to run on electricity from renewable energy sources instead of diesel and petrol, this would significantly reduce the emissions balance. To encourage more buyers to purchase an electric car, a lot is being invested in developing new, affordable models.earth in southwest Bolivia form a colorful mosaic. Lithium – a light metal that is essential for battery production – is extracted at the Llipi pilot plant.
Change of perspective in the Salar de Uyuni
The Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt lake in the world at an altitude of 3,653 meters. The Salar de Uyuni covers a total of 10,580 square kilometers and is said to be at least 121 meters deep. The dimensions of the salt lake are often beyond imagination – in any case, a visit to the Salar de Uyuni is a special highlight of any trip to the Andes. The largest salt pan on earth has been dry for 10,000 years and is 140 kilometers long and 110 kilometers wide. The Salar de Uyuni used to be part of a gigantic prehistoric lake called Michin. It was only when this lake dried up that the Salar de Uyuni and the Salar de Coipasa, also a salt lake in the southwest of Bolivia, were formed.


Evaporation basins in the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt pan in south-western Bolivia, form a colorful mosaic. The Llipi pilot plant extracts lithium – a light metal that is essential for battery production.
E12. Lithium: indispensable, but harmful
To supply the world with clean energy, we need batteries with a long service life – and the light metal lithium is needed to produce them. Due to the high demand, it is extremely valuable – and a danger to the environment. Mining companies are digging through previously untouched landscapes to extract it. Waste products from these processes poison the soil and water.
13. do renewable energies endanger species conservation?
There are few places better suited to the production of renewable energy than the desert, where the sun always shines and the wind often blows. But
What effect does the intrusion into these otherwise untouched ecosystems have on its inhabitants? Thiem’s buckwheat (Eriogonum tiehmii), for example, only grows in a small desert area in the US state of Nevada, where the soil is rich in lithium. The plant species is considered endangered and the mining of the metal in this region could lead to its extinction.
The effects of environmental change on humans
A woman fainted from the heat during the Hinglaj, a Hindu pilgrimage through the desert in western Pakistan. High temperatures are responsible for more deaths than any other form of extreme weather

14 Too hot to live Global warming has a whole range of complicated consequences. Rising temperatures are the most obvious. The year 2023 was the hottest since weather records began. Looking back in a few decades, it will have been one of the cooler ones. Dangerously hot weather is not just unpleasant. It is also the
leading cause of death among weather-related deaths.
15 What global warming means for food production
Growing food is not easy even under the best of circumstances. Farmers have to cope with floods, droughts, sudden cold snaps and pest infestations. Climate change is further altering conditions and making them more unpredictable. Floods are becoming more frequent, droughts are lasting longer, winters are getting shorter, making crops more susceptible to frost. Some of the most popular foods such as avocados, coffee, chocolate, peaches and tomatoes will have to be adapted to these changing conditions or grown in other regions.After a forest fire in 2018, all that remains of this trailer park in Northern California are burnt remains. Wildfires in the western US are becoming more frequent and more devastating – the result of decades of mismanagement and a hotter, drier climate.

It 16. mourning for what is lost
The melancholy you feel when the landscape around you changes is called solastalgia, a feeling of homesickness for a place you have never left. Many people experience it, for example, when there is no longer a real winter in the north due to rising temperatures, or at the sight of the receding swamps in the state of Louisiana.
17 Fear and trauma: the invisible consequences of climate change
More and more people need therapeutic help because climate change is causing them psychological stress. After a natural disaster such as a forest fire or hurricane, survivors often struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Others, preoccupied with the bleak prospects for the future, develop an anxiety disorder called climate anxiety.
18 Is the thawing Arctic triggering a new Cold War?
There is no land in the Arctic. The region consists of ice, shrinks in summer and grows again in winter. But global warming is progressing faster here – on average by a factor of four – than in any other part of the world. This is creating valuable, navigable waterways. The dispute over who is allowed to use them is exacerbating existing conflicts between nations. Politics cannot control itself!
A woman inspects her home on the US Gulf Coast in 2020 after it was badly damaged by hurricanes Laura and Delta. The region is regularly hit by hurricanes and each time its residents are faced with the question of how and whether they should rebuild their homes.

19 How many natural disasters can one city cope with?
Some regions of the US are more vulnerable to climate disasters than others. While wildfires occur almost routinely in parts of California, the Gulf Coast is hit by hurricanes year after year. So what do you do if you live in a disaster area and know it’s only going to get worse? Should you rebuild your home, invest in expensive protection measures or move away? This was the question asked by the residents of Lake Charles, Louisiana, whose town fell victim to multiple hurricanes in 2020.
20. everyone can take action to protect the planet
No one has more to lose from climate change than the younger generations – and they are not giving up hope of living on a healthy planet without a fight. Argentinian climate activist and National Geographic Explorer Eyal Weintraub explains how anyone and everyone can get involved to get politicians to do more to protect the planet.
21. 13 shocking facts about gender inequality worldwide
1. not a single country in the world has achieved gender equality so far
2. more than 380 million women and girls live in extreme poverty
3. more than 1.2 billion women and children live in places where they have no access to safe abortions
4. 12 million girls are married off every year
5. a woman is killed by a family member every 11 minutes
E6. There are more women and girls who have been forcibly displaced than ever before
7. 130 million children worldwide do not attend school
8. women provide billions of unpaid hours of childcare worldwide
9.almost one in three women worldwide were affected by food insecurity in 2021
10.it could take another 286 years to abolish discriminatory laws against women and girls
11. only one in three managers or supervisors is a woman
12. only 26.4 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women
G13. Women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men
Female genital mutilation: background and consequences
FGM (Female Genital Mutilation)6
Over 200 million girls and women worldwide are affected by female genital mutilation. In which countries is female circumcision practiced? Why and with what consequences?
Although FGM is recognized worldwide as a human rights violation, around 68 million girls will be at risk of being circumcised by 2030. Most of the girls are under 15 years old.
In which countries does FGM occur?
FGM is practised in around 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in some countries in Asia and Latin America. Due to migration, FGM is also present in the EU.
So, that’s it, now I’ve got a few WORRIES off my chest !!!……
but the suffering continues for many people….because politics and the world economy continue to play their sinister game !
I add missing pictures every hour