The Key Largo tree cactus population has been wiped from the Florida Keys. While scientists are working on a potential restoration, more species will likely see similar fates as climate change worsens.

Why did it become extinct?
A study published in the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas found the Key Largo tree cactus has gone locally extinct. "It's a big deal when we lose species from an entire country," George Gann, a study co-author, said to The Washington Post. 

The cactus tree population was diminished through saltwater inundation and soil depletion. The site where the species grew "originally had a distinct layer of soil and organic matter that allowed the cactus and other plants to grow, but storm surge from hurricanes and exceptionally high tides eroded away this material until there wasn't much left," said the Florida Museum of Natural History. 

The area also saw excessive saltwater intrusion, which is known to cause higher mortality rates among tree cacti. "The higher tides may have even made freshwater less available to small mammals and prompted the frenzy on the cactuses stems to quench their thirst," said the Post. 

What does this say about the future?
The untimely demise of the cactus is only the beginning. This is "just one example of what's happening to dozens of species, and people need to understand that if we don't do something, this loss is just going to accelerate," Gann said to CNN. Local species are more at risk because they usually require specific conditions to grow. 

Scientists are cultivating the Key Largo tree cactus and hope to reintroduce the species in a new location in the future. Government agencies are also working to prevent further biodiversity loss. But without addressing the root of the habitat destruction, not much can be done. The Key Largo tree cactus "may be a bellwether for how other low-lying coastal plants will respond to climate change," said Jennifer Possley, the study's lead author. 

Social media platform Threads has amassed 175 million active monthly users since being launched by Meta last July, according to the tech giant. Yet despite this apparent success, Threads has struggled to become a meaningful cultural force comparable to Twitter and its controversial successor, X. 

Beneath the numbers 
Threads was "but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg's eye" 18 months ago, said Alex Heath on The Verge, but it was delivered just as Elon Musk was "taking a wrecking ball" to Twitter. The launch seemed like a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the chaos that followed Musk's $44 billion Twitter takeover, by offering a less confrontational platform. 

In April, Business Insider reported that Threads had reached 28 million daily users in the U.S., compared to X's 22 million on its mobile app, based on analysis by data intelligence service Apptopia. But earlier this month, analysis by Sensor Tower found that users are "using it less frequently than other social media platforms," said the Financial Times, despite Threads "promoting posts on sister app Instagram, which provides about two-thirds of its web traffic." 

That Meta isn't sharing daily user numbers yet, as it does for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is "telling," said Heath. The omission suggests Threads is "still getting a lot of flyby traffic from people who have yet to become regular users." 

'Failed to convince' 
While 175 million monthly users may sound like a lot, it's a "drop in the bucket" compared with Instagram's 2 billion monthly users and Facebook's more than 3 billion, said Taylor Lorenz at The Washington Post. Crucially, Meta has "failed to convince" content creators to embrace Threads. The "power" of these individuals "has made them darlings of corporate marketing crucial to the launch of new products," and Meta "knows better than most how influential creators can be." 

Despite the controversy that surrounds TikTok and X, they also "give rise to news and trends that drive conversation," said Hope King at Axios. It's "not yet clear that 'friendly' conversation can create the same kind of spark."