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.
What is Lean. Lean is about the relentless and continuous removal of waste from the processes within an organisation and was an academic description of the Toyota Production System. Lean Enterprise starts at the bottom of the above picture and works its way to the top employing the many tools and techniques of lean. At its final stage every component part of the organisation is part of the lean philosophy.