“What really reinvigorated vaccines was Prevnar, the pneumococcal vaccine that prevents against meningitis and ear infections. Here was the first vaccine to cross the billion-dollar mark.” FirstsCrossesEarsMarkDollarsBillionsVaccinesInfectionMeningitis Author:Paul A. Offit
“Soils could also be giving up their carbon stores: evidence emerged in 2005 that a vast expanse of western Siberia was undergoing an unprecedented thaw. The region, the largest frozen peat bog in the world, had begun to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago. Scientists believe the bog could begin to release billions of tonnes of methane locked up in the soils, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The World Meteorological Organisation recently reported the largest annual rise of methane levels in the atmosphere for a decade.” WorldGivingYearsFirstsBelieveLevelsGiving UpEvidenceFirst TimeYears AgoScientistWesternDecadesStoresBillionsReleaseAtmosphereSoilGlobal WarmingGasRegionsLockedCarbonFrozenOrganisationUnprecedentedAnnualsGreenhousesLocked UpCarbon DioxideGreenhouse GasesExpanseBogsSiberiaMethane Author:David Adam
“In a nation of millions and a world of billions, the individual is still the first and basic agent of change.” WorldFirstsStillsIndividualNationsMillionsBillionsAgents Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966 Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966
“Most of us still believe in the intrinsic value of nature, but I think the first century of the environmental/conservation movement demonstrated pretty clearly that this value cannot compel a civilization-wide shift toward sustainable behavior and enterprise when stacked up against the urgent economic and social needs of 7 billion people, most of whom are struggling to get out of poverty.” PeopleThinkingNeedsFirstsBelieveStillsValuesSocialPovertyStruggleEconomicCenturyMovementCivilizationBehaviorEnvironmentalWideBillionsEnterpriseConservationUrgentIntrinsic Value Author:Edward Norton