The Planet's special offer for Labor Day weekend

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We live on a beautiful but small planet. You can fly around it in two or three days, and astronauts need only two or three hours. It wasn't always like that; in the 17th century, sailing vessels required years to circumnavigate the globe, and vast areas of the land and oceans were still left empty on the world maps.

But since then, the pace of discovery has increased. We felt proud to conquer nature, and explorers filled in the blind spots on the maps. We developed knowledge in every possible scientific field, and we rapidly industrialized. And in doing so, we quickly used much of the stored energy of hundreds of millions of years to fuel our machines. We thus polluted the atmosphere, the land, and the oceans. And, unfortunately, progress also meant the extinction of wonderful complex life forms, from tiny insects to complete rainforests.

After ignoring half a century of warnings from scientists, it is only in the past decade that most of us have become aware of the planetary security consequences; destroying nature sets harsher conditions for us to survive. That may lead to more competition, inequality, human suffering, and conflicts. But it may also lead to better cooperation, creativity, innovation, and more sustainable lifestyles. We need better governance to peacefully steer all of us through this phase of our history on this planet; we need leaders who can prevent the further destruction of the Planet's ecosystems and adapt our societies to the new challenges.

I have worked on these challenges for many years, I have also spoken and written about them. But, increasingly, I focus less on destroying our habitats; instead, I write about the beauty of all living things on this Planet. If we realize what is at stake, we may be more aware of the Planet's fragility during the ever faster unfolding global catastrophe.

If you appreciate the beauty of nature and share a desire to preserve this Planet's beauty for our children and grandchildren, then you may like to support The Planet newsletter.

Paying subscribers can start their day with stories about the challenges of our Planet, like the climate crisis or biodiversity loss and their solutions. In contrast, on other days you can read stories about all that is at stake, not only about wildlife and natural areas but also local stories and fascinating histories that make our lives so worthwhile.

You probably know that you enjoy this publication since you received this and since you got this far in reading today's note. Please realize that each article, photo, or video is my work; you make this newsletter possible by taking a paid subscription.

It is Labor Day weekend: only for today and tomorrow (Labor Day), you can make use of a special offer: 20% off for the first 12 months of an annual subscription.

That comes down to less than a dollar per week to support The Planet newsletter.

I hope you will get on board too.

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(I will send this to everyone on my mailing list, so if you are already a paying subscriber: Thank you for your support!)