Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Fossil discovered by team of junior naturalists identified as new species
When the members of the Hamilton Junior Naturalist Club headed out on a fossil-hunting expedition, they expected to find some interesting shells and perhaps bones, but what they didn’t expect was the shocking discovery of a previously undiscovered species of penguin. Back in 2006, the students Read More...
UK takes action to ban the shark fin trade
This year, the UK has been making strides in its animal protection policies through a variety of ways, like becoming the first country in the world to recognize animals as sentient beings as well as passing the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The British government, determined to keep up the Read More...
Sunlight and saltwater is all you need for this electricity-free cooling system
Researchers at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are working on a cooling system that requires zero electricity, something that would be highly valuable in many parts of the world that lack infrastructure but get a lot of sunlight. The team’s strategy Read More...
Environmental DNA monitoring is the conservation tool of the future
One in four freshwater organisms are currently at risk of extinction, but saving aquatic species can be more difficult than conserving their land-based counterparts as they are inherently less visible to the human eye and less accessible to researchers. To address this, scientists Marie Read More...
Vertical modular farms aim to solve the problem of urban food deserts
Millions of people in the US experience food insecurity on a daily basis. This problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has pushed the total number of Americans experiencing hunger to an estimated 42 million people, many of whom live in urban food deserts which lack adequate access Read More...
A team of Irish goats is Dublin’s solution to wildfire mitigation
A new initiative located just outside of the city of Dublin, Ireland is getting creative with conservation and wildfire mitigation by using the country's only indigenous goat species to manage a fire-prone hillside in Howth. Overlooking Dublin city centre, the hillside is now home to 25 Old Read More...
4 Key strategies to employ in the upcoming UN climate summits
Two important climate summits are coming up as we near the end of 2021. The first, on September 24, will be the first in 40 years to focus specifically on energy. The second, the COP26, will run the first two weeks of November and aims to mobilize countries to step up their climate commitments as Read More...
Climate-resistant coffee of the future may come from this Finnish lab
From meat to milk to chocolate, lab-grown products have increased in popularity in recent years, as people look for alternatives with a minimal impact on the environment as well as the welfare of workers and animals. Now, coffee is about to join in on the lab-grown movement thanks to Finnish Read More...
Plants may literally light the way to sustainable energy sources
Scientists at MIT are in the process of developing a new source of passive lighting that could one day light up our streets. The surprising source? Glow-in-the-dark plants. The relatively new field of “plant nanobionics” involves embedding nanoparticles into plants to enhance the natural Read More...
CA introduces trio of laws to make housing more affordable and sustainable
With new policies surrounding oil extraction, recycling, and building codes, California has led the way on green policymaking this year. Now, the state is taking aim at low-carbon affordable housing with a series of new laws that remove red tape surrounding progressive construction. The first Read More...