Even if we launch probes to unknown planets, even if first settlers on Mars are a dream becoming reality, we still do not fully know our own planet Earth.

This year, scientists explored the frozen deserts of Antarctica and the deep trenches of our oceans to discover new species, new environments. From the rare hatching of endangered birds, to the ongoing quest for neutrinos in the laboratories of the CERN, Nature has many concealed treasures that we must preserve.

Just this year, bees and bats have improved our radars, elephants have refined our quake detectors and a humble species of aquatic moss could solve heavy metals poisoning. Even our buried past is unearthing new inventions and springing useful knowledge, from the fossils that could hide a cure for today’s diseases to a few specks of rock that happen to be the fragments of a meteorite which could alter our solar system theories.

The Earth is the only planet we get. We lived and thrived on it, and to continue to do so, it becomes of paramount importance to cherish it. And the better way to love and protect, is to know and understand.