For instance, have you heard of the island of Krakatoa, near Java? It was blown up by a volcanic explosion equal to a 10,000-megaton H-bomb. What remained was just sterilized land covered by ashes and pumice. But would Krakatoa remain a heap of lifeless ash? Biologists watched to see. Within three years, twenty-six species of plants reestablished themselves. Ten years more brought coconut trees, wild sugarcane and orchids. And twelve years more found 263 species of animals there. Even without man’s help it became once again a tropical paradise of forests and lovely birds.

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Krakatoa was sterilized by a volcanic explosion, but even without man’s help it again became a tropical paradise