Climate Action
What is Climate Action? Climate Action is humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our planet's resilience against climate change. From adaptation to mitigation, at The Optimist Daily you will learn about the most recent positive news stories and solutions targeting climate change and other environmental issues.
New Zealand passes landmark climate legislation, helping switch to EVs
New Zealand has one of the highest per capita carbon emissions rates in the world, but it still has a strong reputation for environmentally responsible behavior. In the spirit of the latter, it plans to help with the former and has just passed landmark legislation that may set a standard for other Read More...
This is the world’s first ocean carbon-removing machine
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the source should be the main goal when tackling climate change, but the most recent IPCC report also recommends carbon capture and storage technologies as key parts of the effort to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The startup Heimdal is well aware of the need Read More...
Wetlands, the super carbon sink, and rewilding the Illinois River
After forests, wetlands are the greatest terrestrial carbon sink. These boggy and busy pools of life used to be thought of as a nuisance for people and communities, drained of their water or dug up for peat fuel. Now, we understand the quiet service that wetlands provide us and the Read More...
Five easy steps to start composting
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about eight percent of all carbon emissions come from food waste, and about half of that comes from “the consumption stage,” which means waste from households and food services. This means that we can control about four percent of carbon Read More...
Algae powered a basic computer for over six months
Sometimes it can be pretty difficult to imagine our highly technological society coexisting with the natural world. We seem to live most of our lives entirely online, not just separated from nature, but also from physical space itself. However, scientists from the University of Cambridge have Read More...
Positive parasites, how deer and ruminant pests help the overall ecosystem
Some pests and critters annoy us, but everything in nature has its purpose and its place. Wolves are the villains of fairy tales, but they are in fact keystone predators that control the overpopulation of their prey. Beavers chew on powerline poles, but they also help preserve wetlands. As it turns Read More...
Breakthrough method that rescues lithium from wastewater
Electric vehicles are the future of transport. Electric vehicle sales increase year after year and, in 2019, accounted for 2.6 percent of global car sales. Electric vehicles are an essential change to be made for reducing the number of greenhouse gases and non-renewable resources used by humans, Read More...
Europe may launch plan requiring solar panels on all public buildings by 2025
Countries are speeding up efforts to transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources, not just for the sake of the climate, but also to build independence from Russian petroleum. Germany accelerated its own schedule to become 100 percent renewable, seeing the danger to its energy sector that Read More...
Volunteer scuba divers recover 25,000 pounds of trash from Lake Tahoe
While few other lakes in the United States can compete with Lake Tahoe’s clear waters, the country’s second deepest lake does have a trash problem. To address this, California nonprofit Clean Up the Lake has recently organized a team of scuba divers to remove debris from the lake’s whole Read More...
Orbex rocket prototype makes debut at Scottish Highlands spaceport
While humans are naturally earthbound creatures, we need space travel. Our society, as it is, needs the myriad functions and services our satellites provide, and so far, there’s only one way to get them up there. To that end, space scientists and engineers are constantly innovating ways to make Read More...