From the depths of the Amazon rainforest to the deserts of Antarctica, big questions about life on Earth remain unanswered. We asked leading scientists and environmentalists: What’s the one thing about the planet that remains a mystery?
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How many species are there in the world?
“How many different animal species do we share the planet with? Estimates range from just 3 million to 100 million, and there’s little sign we’re getting any closer to an answer yet.”
• Prof. Andy Purvis He is a researcher at the Natural History Museum and co-author of the 2019 UN global assessment related to planet
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I’d go back 540 million years to see the ‘biological big bang’
“As an evolutionary biologist, I would love a time machine to go back to the Cambrian explosion. [when most major animal groups first appeared in the fossil record] Understanding why this short period resulted in the really rapid rise of most animal groups, and why some like trilobites [extinct marine arthropods] “He didn’t survive.”
• Evolutionary biologist Dr. Corrie Moreau He specializes in ants at Cornell University’s Moreau laboratory.
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Could some of the smallest life forms help prevent the climate crisis?
“Just as we humans rely on our gut microbiomes for good digestive health, the dirt beneath our feet contains countless bacteria, fungi, and viruses that affect the health of the soil and the plants that grow in it. Because most of these organisms cannot be cultured in the laboratory, we know little about their ecology. But the presence of certain microbes can help trees grow up to three times faster. “Could these ‘good microbes’ be some of our best allies in fighting climate change and improving food security?”
• Doctor Bonnie Waring He is a senior lecturer at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.
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What exactly is the biodiversity of rainforests in the Amazon or Congo basin?
“I would love to understand all the diversity in a small 100 x 100 meter area of tropical rainforest: how many species live there or pass through, how they interact with each other, how old they are, where they come from. , What are they doing. Apart from the scientific insights this will give us, I hope this will help convince people of the extreme complexity and value of ecosystems that have come together over thousands of years, and that preserving what we have left is always a better choice than trying to destroy and rebuild later .”
• Prof. Alexandre Antonelli is scientific director of the Royal Botanic Gardenskew
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How do animals affect how the Earth works?
“How do animals shape the appearance and function of ecosystems? We know they do this in some well-publicized ways, such as pollination or seed dispersal, but there are many more subtle ways, such as the cycling of nutrients, selective consumption of plants, and complex networks of predators and prey. Understood but constantly surprising. Just last month I learned that spiders determine where plants will grow and ecosystems recover after a volcanic eruption by trapping seeds in their webs. And ultimately how much does this animal affect matter at the biome or global level? How much do animals shape the functioning of planet Earth?”
• Yadvinder Malhi is professor of ecosystem science at Oxford University
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What will happen to the Gulf Stream?
“If I had to know one thing that is uncertain at the moment, it is whether the Gulf Stream will suddenly shut down, and if so when, that it will completely change the climate in Europe, leading to a drastic drop in temperatures and potentially catastrophic effects on water and food security.” “The rest of the planet is being cooked by human-caused climate change.”
• Sir Robert Watson He is one of Britain’s most distinguished climate scientists
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Do universal rules determine how plants and animals evolve?
“Organisms from very different ancestors (including both animals and plants) appear to follow a limited number of general ‘styles.’ What are the general, simple rules that govern the way these are ‘put together’, and what makes some of these styles so much more successful on Earth than others? So, if there are such rules, are they the same for animals and plants?
• Sandra Myrna Diaz He is a professor of ecology at the National University. Córdoba in Argentina
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How many people can the world support?
“The only thing I want to know is how many more people the Earth can accommodate. At the current rate, it will only take 10 years to add another 1 billion people to the planet. We are already witnessing the devastating impact of unsustainable human population growth as more humans destroy pristine habitats for food and other basic needs, leading to climate change and more frequent zoonotic disease outbreaks and pandemics. “If we can live in balance, health and harmony with nature, how many more people will the Earth be able to accommodate?”
• Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka It was Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian and conservation pioneer
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Which species will adapt to the climate crisis and which will not?
“What are the limits to species adaptation and why? We know the climate is changing and species are adapting, but we don’t understand what the boundaries are and why they are changing. Which species will not be able to adapt quickly enough and at what point? Which will adapt and evolve, and what determines these responses? What can we do as a society to help species adapt? “These are fundamental questions whose answers will determine what the natural world will look like in the future, while providing deep insights into how biology works and evolves.”
• Sir Patrick Vallance Former chief scientific advisor to the UK government and chairman of the board of trustees of the Natural History Museum