Ecoclimax

Magnesium often flies under the radar, even though it quietly supports over 300 chemical reactions in our bodies (like energy metabolism, muscle and nerve function, and even DNA replication). With such wide-reaching impacts, it’s surprising how easy it can be to fall below recommended levels without realizing it. Why magnesium matters—for you and nature Magnesium isn’t only something our bodies need—it’s something plants need, too. In fact, without magnesium, they can’t make chlorophyll, which is what helps them soak up sunlight and grow. If you've ever had a houseplant with yellowing leaves, low magnesium might’ve been the culprit. Out in the fields, it’s the same story. If the soil doesn’t have enough magnesium, crops don’t grow as well. And if crops aren’t healthy, they’re not as nutritious for us when we eat them. So really, magnesium connects us—from the soil, to the plants, to our plates. How much do we actually need? The U.S. Institute of Medicine sets daily targets for ad...

Back in the 1960s, many scientists and policymakers feared the world was heading for disaster—not because of climate change or artificial intelligence, but because of too many people. Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb warned of mass starvation and ecological collapse if human numbers weren’t brought under control. These fears shaped national policies, global aid, and even coercive sterilization programs in some countries. And the numbers did seem alarming. The global population rose from 3 billion in 1960 to 5 billion by 1987, then to 6 billion by 1999, and 8 billion by 2022. Since the mid‑1970s, we’ve been adding about 1 billion people every 12 years. The animated map below, created by VividMaps.com using World Bank data, shows how population changed in each country from 1960 to 2022: The map makes it clear: Asia has long led the world in population size, growing from about 1.7 billion in 1960 to 4.7 billion by 2022. Africa’s population grew even faster—up nearly six...

Ever wondered how long the average person lives these days—and what those years actually look like? Life expectancy isn’t just a number. It’s a mirror of how well a society supports its people—from access to clean water and doctors to education, air quality, and even peace. And the global story? It's been one of steady progress, despite a few hard-hitting setbacks. Between 2000 and 2019, the average life expectancy across the world rose from about 66.8 years to 73.1 years, according to the World Health Organization. That’s over six extra years in less than two decades. Pretty impressive, right? But then came COVID-19, which knocked that number back temporarily. Even so, most of the long-term gains have held strong. Meanwhile, something called healthy life expectancy—basically, how many of those years we live in good health—has also gone up. People aren't just living longer, they’re living better, too. Where People Live the Longest Some places seem to have cracked the code. Ti...

Elephants are amazing creatures, but their world is changing fast. A 2023 map by cartographer Wanmei Liang brings this into focus: it marks every elephant species and subspecies in a different color. (The source data comes from the Elephant Territories project.) In Africa, two species remain : the savanna (bush) elephant and the forest elephant. In Asia, there’s one species – the Asian elephant – split into three main subspecies (Indian, Sri Lankan, and Sumatran). The map shows African savanna elephants in purple, forest elephants in red, Sri Lankan elephants in pink, Indian elephants in orange, and Sumatran elephants in yellow (a lowly known subspecies of  Indian elephants of the Borneo elephants is not shown on the map). This visual makes it easy to see where each lives and who they are. In real numbers, all elephant groups are dwindling. Across Africa, an estimated about 400,000–415,000 elephants survive today. Most live in East and Southern Africa (Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya,...