First, absorption helps people by preventing high-energy radiation from reaching the surface which limits our exposure to harmful radiation. The atmosphere absorbs most of the radiation from the ultraviolet region through the X-ray region. The second way in which absorption helps the earth is as a heat source for it.
*lean times (ahead). Fig. a future period of lowered income or revenue; a future period when there will be shortages of goods and suffering. (*Typically: be ~; cause ~; have ~; mean ~ .) The economy is going sour which means lean times ahead.
Lean in. Lean in means to grab opportunities without hesitation. An older meaning for lean in is to incline into something, such as a skier leaning in at a turn or pedestrian leaning in to the wind during a heavy gale. In 2013, Sheryl Sandburg published a book called Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.